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Re: Pileated Woodpecker



About 3 days ago I saw a pair of pileated woodpeckers in my next door 
neighbor's front yard -- in a suburban neighborhood. One was feeding on the 
ground at the base of a medium size loblolly while the other was pecking 
around about 20 feet up in the same tree. I don't consider this observation 
particularly noteworthy however because I am less than 1/4 mile from a 
relatively large tract of closed canopy forest that runs along the floodplain 
of a small tributary to the Tar River and eventually ties into larger tracts 
along the Tar. Also, the neighborhood itself contains numerous large trees 
that were left by the developer in the 60s. Most certainly I won't say the 
pileated has adapted to suburban neighborhoods on the basis of this 
observation. They may have simply ventured out of the forest to feed for a 
while. Maybe their nest tree blew down and they were searching for a better 
territory. More likely, they were this year's fledglings involved in 
wanderings that will last for several months until, and if, they find habitat 
suitable for nesting and rearing young. Who knows how many other front yards 
they may pass through before they find suitable habitat, or meet an untimely 
demise -- and who knows how many birders will see and report them.

It is indisputable that piloted populations nose-dived during the early part 
of the century when massive timber cutting destroyed most of the eastern 
forests. One theory that I've heard is that enough birds were able to survive 
in pockets of uncut refugia until second growth stands began to close in 
around scattered remnant large trees that were of suitable size and condition 
(decayed) to provide nest sites -- which caused an initial population 
rebound. Now, here we are 50 or more years later when these forests have 
matured further producing very good habitat. We SHOULD have larger pileated 
populations than when I was a boy because habitat has improved greatly.  

Certainly pileateds do not need pristine old growth for survival. I think 
most authorities believe they need closed canopy forests, or forests with at 
least a broken canopy that are old enough to contain numerous dead trees to 
provide primary forage habitat and large enough to provide a substrate for 
cavity excavation 20 ft., or so, above the ground. Not what you'd expect to 
find in your basic tree farm, or "working forest."

The question is, what will the timber industry do to the eastern forest now 
that it is again replete with merchantable sized trees?

Some folks have hope that a similar situation has saved a small population of 
ivory-bills. If some have survived, the maturing forest offers hope, as long 
as it exists. The apparent need for about 10,000 acres of older forest per 
pair and the importance of dying and recently killed trees to supply abundant 
beetle larvae, however, is a much more stringent habitat need than that of 
the pileated.