Subject: Re: Pileated Woodpecker in Washington Park Arboretum
Date: Feb 01 15:20:31 1997
From: Cliff Drake - birder at juno.com


I've seen Pileated Woodpeckers in Discovery Park and Upper Golden Gardens
Park in Seattle, FYI.
=================
Cliff Drake
Ballard, WA
Birder at Juno.com


On Sat, 1 Feb 1997 09:34:44 -0800 (PST) Kelly Cassidy
<kelly at salmo.cqs.washington.edu> writes:
>
>I've seen them nest in some quite isolated snags in suburbs. So they
>seem to require patches of old growth. Problem is, suitable snags
>rarely
>last long, even in parks, and they have a very short life span around
>houses. Liability concerns and worries about them falling on power
>lines and houses do them in.
>
>Kelly Cassidy
>
>On Fri, 31 Jan 1997, Kelly McAllister wrote:
>
>> Pretty interesting. Pileated woodpeckers are thought to be facing
>> population decline because they require large diameter snags in
>which they
>> excavate cavities for nesting and roosting. They also require
>significant
>> quantities of dead and defective trees in which to find
>invertebrates to
>> eat. However, these apparent life requirements seem to be at odds
>with
>> there persistance in many of Washington's most urbanized areas (like
>the
>> Washington Park Arboretum?). I have often thought that a
>radio-telemetry
>> study of urban Pileated Woodpeckers would be very informative. Are
>they
>> finding the necessary resources by traveling over huge areas? Do
>they
>> require a "core" area of old forest?
>> Do they actually "make do" with trees that are smaller than what
>existing
>> studies indicate?
>>
>> Kelly McAllister
>> Olympia Washington
>>
>>
>