Subject: Re: woodpecker info request
Date: Jul 1 17:26:36 1996
From: steppie at wolfenet.com - steppie at wolfenet.com


Mary,

I've always gotton the impression Black-backed Woodpeckers are
quintessential nomads. I believe a part of the population is always on the
move through eastside forests seeking diseased or recently burned stands of
timber. Their habitat is from the upper ponderosa pine up to the subalpine
zone, with most in the mixed-conifer forests. Because of this nomadism, once
a food bonanza is found - either diseased or burnt stands - their numbers
may gradually build in this area. As the food source diminishes in these
area of optimum foraging, individuals resume their wanderings( this bird
would perhaps better be named Picoides peregrinus rather than articus as the
Three-toed Woodpecker is more "arctic" than Black-backed). In a burn, the
explosion of bark and other beetles seems to peak within a year after the
fire and then numbers of these insects diminish. By the third or fourth year
after the fire, there may be relatively fe of the types of insects which
this woodpecker is after.So, typically, after that number of years
post-fire, the Black-backs have moved on; Hairy and Three-toed Woodpeckers
do not seem to show such pronounced wandering tendencies.

So, I would not expect strong nest site fidelity in Black-backs, but perhaps
more in Three-toed Woodpeckers. At the nest site, they are probably no more
shy than most of our other birds of the forests, nor subject to disturbance.

Overall, for Black-backs, their long-term outlook in eastside forests must
be grim. The core of their distribution is in forests with high economic
value and outside wilderness areas. The timber industry aims to remove
diseased and burned trees quickly. For example, much grand fir in
south-central WA is infected by a root rot. Many millions of board feet of
diseased grand fir (and eastside Spotted Owl habitat) has been lost in the
last 10-15 years from Snoqualmie Pass thtrough the Cascades to Oregon). This
has not been good for either woodpecker or owls - and the rest of the
ecosystem.



Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA

>I need some information on black-back and three-toed woodpeckers.
>Specifically, do these species return to the same site or area annually

Mary Poss
UW