Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Attempted conspecific cavity usurpation by Red-headed Woodpeckers (<em>Melanerpes erythrocephalus</em>)

“…These disputes often consist of brief agonistic encounters that occur near territory boundaries (Kilham 1958;Smith et al 2000; JLB, personal observation). In this instance, the intruder targeted the territorial pair's nest cavity and made numerous repeated attempts to attack and enter the nest over an extended period of time (>1.5 hours).…”

“…There are few estimates of reproductive success, and the factors influencing nest survival are poorly understood (Smith et al 2000). The incidence of conspecific cavity usurpation or depredation by Red-headed Woodpeckers is currently unreported, and it warrants further investigation to elucidate its influence on local reproductive success and population dynamics, particularly within small populations and populations with patchy distributions.…”

Scale-dependent and multi-metric nest habitat thresholds for Red-headed Woodpeckers at the northern periphery of their range

“…Red-headed Woodpeckers are known to select habitats characterized by large, sparsely distributed trees and open understories (Smith et al 2000), and we identified nest habitat thresholds that correspond to these structural attributes. In northern New York, Red-headed Woodpeckers consistently selected for dead limbs, open understories, and decadent trees at multiple spatial scales (Figures 2-4).…”

“…Habitats that characterize these structural attributes have diminished in recent decades due to land-use change, and a reduction in suitable breeding habitat is suggested as an important factor limiting Redheaded Woodpecker populations (Smith et al 2000, Kilgo andVukovich 2014). Therefore, increasing the distribution and quality of nesting habitat will be important for the recovery of this species (Smith et al 2000).…”

Survival of Red-headed Woodpeckers' (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) nests in northern New York

“…The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) was historically common in the eastern and central United States, and it still has one of the largest breeding distributions of any woodpecker species in North America (Smith et al 2000). Nevertheless, this species has experienced sharp, 40-year population declines across much of its range (Smith et al 2000, Sauer et al 2014.…”