>So, in my own personal experience I'm familiar with areas where
>Lewis' woodpeckers and starlings co-exist at least to some degree,
>yet the Oak Island area I speak of ain't one of them. Any ideas
>on the dynamics?
>
>Fill me in, Dennis (or anyone else)...
>
>- Don Baccus

Truly, I think we still have a lot to learn. Several studies of
woodpeckers vs. starlings have engendered different conclusions. There are
differences between species responses, and there may be differences even
within species in different areas or habitats, in terms of how much effect
starlings have on them. So much speculation, so few studies.....

When I was writing some stuff on starlings, I couldn't find anything about
their effect on Lewis' woodpeckers, although there are papers discussing
their effect on flickers (Howell, A. B. 1943. Starlings and woodpeckers.
Auk 60: 90-91) and acorn woodpeckers (Troetschler, T. G. 1976. Acorn
woodpecker breeding strategy as affected by starling nest-hole competition.
Condor 78: 151-165).

A quite interesting paper in this context: Ingold, D. J. 1989. Nesting
phenology and competition for nest sites among red-headed and red-bellied
woodpeckers and European starlings. Auk 106: 209-217. In it he relates
that red-bellieds and starlings compete substantially because they initiate
nesting at the same time, while red-headeds nest later and for the most
part avoid starling competition. Starlings usurped 52% of red-bellied nest
holes and 7% of red-headed nest holes during this study, in Mississippi.

I wonder about our woodpecker nest-initiation dates vis-a-vis starlings.
Bear in mind also that a woodpecker, having had its nest cavity taken over,
can go drill another one if it can find an appropriate tree, and they are
known to do just that. Cavity nesters that don't make their own holes,
such as bluebirds, can't.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416