Lewis Woodpeckers and burns is an old, old connection which may only be
partly supported by facts. They are partially migratory, generally
depending
upon oak habitats in winter and pine in summer, but perhaps only partially
on either. They are highly opportunistic, taking advantage of what's where
and when.

Because they do a lot of fly catching in summer, they may not be tied to
burns
as much as to open forest habitat created by burns. For several years we
have
been monitoring the bird populations on the Swakane burn, just north of
Wenatchee
about 50,000 acres in 1987, and we have not noticed an increase in the
number
of Lewis Woodpeckers. White-headed yes, but not Lewis.

Jerry Tangren
<Jerry_Tangren at tfrec.ncw.net>