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Re: Pileated Woodpecker in the City, plus a new rainforest site



On Fri, 26 May 2000, Ginny Kloepfer wrote:
> 
> I have been following the discussion of pileated woodpeckers appearing in
> backyards with great interest.  I was thinking what a great treat for those
> that have seen one.  Today I was the lucky one.  One appeared in my backyard
> and I, too, live in the city.  There is a very small woods behind my house,
> but I am also very close to a large commercial area.  I would have thought
> any self-respecting pileated would have thought this area was far too
> civilized.  I am glad to see that they are adapting well.

Hi Carolinabirders,

I would hesitate before celebrating the "adaptation" of Pileateds to new 
environments. We discussed here a while back about Wood Thrushes, and how 
"source" populations of successfully breeding birds could supply 
individuals to "sink" populations where the birds could survive, but not 
reproduce. As large areas of the eastern US revert from farmland to 
forest, most of the region is reporting declining populations of species 
like Grasshopper Sparrow, which benefited from all the agriculture. It's 
only natural that as Grasshopper Sparrows decline, Pileated Woodpeckers 
increase (at least until the habitat gets turned into housing 
developments and shopping malls and they both disappear).

This rash of suburban Pileateds may just be, as Charlie Thomas suggested, 
mostly young birds which lose competion with older birds for prime 
territory in the forest, and are forced out into the suburbs. While Rob 
G. found a family which successfully raised young, most residential 
neighborhoods are too paranoid about hurricane damage and immediately 
remove any large limb, if not entire tree, which shows even the slightest 
sign of decay. With no decaying wood, the Pileateds have nowhere to nest, 
and can only feed and survive and hope that a better habitat opens up 
elsewhere.

Or maybe I'm just jealous. I live on the edge of the Duke Forest, which 
you might expect to predispose me to have Pileateds in the neighborhood. 
However, after nearly a year in this location, I have not even heard one, 
much less seen one. Much of the adjacent woods is dominated by young 
trees, so either it was farmland too recently, or the DF has too short a 
cutting rotation to support Pileateds.

I mentioned here a while back about "The Race for the Rainforest", a 
web-site which arranged for donations of money to the Nature Conservancy 
for rainforest preservation every time you clicked on the right button at 
the site. Well, I just noticed that there is now a second site doing the 
same thing! This one is a spin-off of "The Hunger Site", and donates to 
TNC's "Adopt an Acre" program. You can get there directly at 
http://www.therainforestsite.com/, or from The Hunger Site via an icon at 
the top of the page. Happy clicking!

And if anyone is on the Outer Banks this weekend and sees a gang of 
birders from Massachusetts, tell Bill and/or Barbara Drummond (Bill 
should be on pelagics tomorrow and Sunday, Barbara usually stays on land) 
I said hello...

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/