Submission Type

Poster

Abstract

Avifauna are in decline in North America, including red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Red-headed woodpeckers are negatively impacted by urbanization, which has decreased their ideal habitats of oak-savannas and through the management of urban trees there has been a reduction in the amount of tree decay, a necessary feature of suitable trees that woodpeckers can make cavities in. Cavities are created and used as nests in the breeding season (spring/summer) and as roost-sites in the non-breeding season (fall/winter). In the Chicagoland region, during the fall some red-headed woodpeckers migrate while others do not and remain overwinter, making them facultative migrators. Thus, some of their tree cavities may be useful year-round. My study aims to compare the habitat characteristics of cavities that are used only in the breeding season and those that are used year-round by red-headed woodpeckers. I will use eBird to choose sites in the Chicagoland region that are commonly inhabited by red-headed woodpeckers in the winter and locate cavities at those sites during the upcoming breeding season. I will examine each cavity-tree at three scales, cavity (e.g., height, orientation), tree (e.g., decay class, diameter at breast height), and surrounding habitat (e.g., density of decay, density of hard-mast trees). These characteristics will be compared between cavities where red-headed woodpeckers stay the following winter and where they do not. This research will contribute to better understanding the full annual cycle of this species of conservation concern and their habitat needs.

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Jalene LaMontagne (Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University)

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Habitat characteristics and winter use of woodpecker-excavated tree cavities

Avifauna are in decline in North America, including red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Red-headed woodpeckers are negatively impacted by urbanization, which has decreased their ideal habitats of oak-savannas and through the management of urban trees there has been a reduction in the amount of tree decay, a necessary feature of suitable trees that woodpeckers can make cavities in. Cavities are created and used as nests in the breeding season (spring/summer) and as roost-sites in the non-breeding season (fall/winter). In the Chicagoland region, during the fall some red-headed woodpeckers migrate while others do not and remain overwinter, making them facultative migrators. Thus, some of their tree cavities may be useful year-round. My study aims to compare the habitat characteristics of cavities that are used only in the breeding season and those that are used year-round by red-headed woodpeckers. I will use eBird to choose sites in the Chicagoland region that are commonly inhabited by red-headed woodpeckers in the winter and locate cavities at those sites during the upcoming breeding season. I will examine each cavity-tree at three scales, cavity (e.g., height, orientation), tree (e.g., decay class, diameter at breast height), and surrounding habitat (e.g., density of decay, density of hard-mast trees). These characteristics will be compared between cavities where red-headed woodpeckers stay the following winter and where they do not. This research will contribute to better understanding the full annual cycle of this species of conservation concern and their habitat needs.