Date: 4/27/24 6:01 pm From: Jerry Davis <jwdavis...> Subject: Re: Red-headed Woodpecker!
An additional note on the Red-headed Woodpeckers. Growing up in East Texas there were not enough snags for the woodpeckers and because the power poles were like snags with no bark, the Red-headed woodpecker built their nesting holes in power poles. My dad called them his “fence builders” because when the Texas Power and Light replaced the poles, he could buy the damaged poles for his fence corner posts. Many people remember Woody Woodpecker which was a Red-headed woodpecker. When I was the Forest Wildlife Biologist on the Kaibab National Forest, the Forest Service in the west cut down all of the snags calling them lightning rods and they feared they would start of Forest Fires. We had 64 species of birds and mammal on the Forest that needed snags for nesting. In some areas of the Forest, there were less than two snags per 640 acres rather than the 2.7 snags per acre that we needed. One night I saw the Channel 2 News in Phoenix interviewing Walt Lance as he was passing through Sky Harbor airport. I thought that he could do more in a few days for snag management than I could do in a wildlife career so I wrote him a letter and explained the importance of snags for 85 species of birds and 49 species of mammals. He replied and said that he used to have a snag in his back yard and woodpeckers and when the snag was gone he never understood why the woodpeckers were gone and never made the connection. A long story short, he drew a Woody Woodpecker Graphic saying Do Not Cut, I Live Here and in addition, he used his studios to make video and audio spots for TV and Radio. I held a Snag Habitat Management Symposium in Flagstaff, Arizona with 200 + pages of research on snag habitat and wildlife use. The proceeding went into a second printing and was distributed to every state and 76 foreign countries.
Today too many people do not understand the value of snags and the connection of primary and secondary cavity nesters, nor that if you have a snag in your yard bird species diversity increases by 37%. We have manicured yards and sanitized forest. It can take 100 years to get a tree big enough for Pileated woodpeckers 20 inches DBH and it takes fungi and heart rot 40 years to decay the inner trunk to have cavities. “Snags Are For Wildlife” was my paper at that Symposium.
Jerry Wayne Davis
Hot Springs, AR
From: Hrishikesh More
Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2024 6:38 PM
To: <jwdavis...> ; Judy Griffith
Cc: <ARBIRD-L...>
Subject: Re: Red-headed Woodpecker!
During the start of the breeding season they move from forest interiors to forest edges or disturbed areas. Wherever they breed, dead (or partially dead) trees for nest cavities are an important part of their habitat. In the northern part of their winter range, they live in mature stands of forest, especially oak, oak-hickory, maple, ash, and beech. In the southern part, they live in pine and pine-oak. They are somewhat nomadic; in a given location they can be common one year and absent the next.
- This explains their 'periodic' springtime visit to the backyard !
- My neighbour (a few lots northside) has a big barkless dead tree, and that explains Jerry's point as well. I hope whoever purchases that property (currently on sale) does not cut it down. 🤞
On Sat, Apr 27, 2024 at 4:55 PM Jerry Davis <jwdavis...> wrote:
Red-headed Woodpeckers prefer snags without Bark which is more difficult
for rat snakes to climb. I have two nesting pair that come for suet and
Black oil Sunflower seeds. If a Red-bellied WP is on the suet, they run
it off.
Jerry Wayne Davis
Hot Springs, AR
On 2024-04-27 4:22 pm, Judy Griffith wrote:
> Numerous native Shortleaf Pines that died in the drought of 2011- 2013
> surprisingly and wonderfully became homes to Red-headed Woodpeckers!
> The beautiful birds also came to our suet feeders where we thrilled in
> their beauty, and they raised many young here before leaving every
> autumn. Over the years those cavity trees have finally fallen over but
> there are still more in the surrounding woods.
> The birds are indeed spectacular to see with their brilliant colors!
> Thank you, Hrishikesh.
>
> J
>
>> On Apr 27, 2024, at 3:48 PM, Hrishikesh More
>> <hrishikesh.r.more...> wrote:
>>
>> We have one visiting for the last few days (April 25 2:40 pm
>> onwards) on suet feeders.
>> I am not sure if they have a very large range or not, this male is
>> not seen year round. Last year also during spring time this male
>> visited for 4 weeks (almost daily) then no show.
>>
>> However, whenever he visits, it is an absolute joy to watch such a
>> brilliantly colored bird. I just wish he stays around for the whole
>> year as the range indicates (in Sibley).
>>
>> regards,
>> Hrishikesh
>> Bella Vista
>>
>> On Sat, Apr 27, 2024 at 10:11 AM Judy Griffith
>> <9waterfall9...> wrote:
>>
>>> Saw one beauty for the first time yesterday since they departed
>>> last fall.
>>>
>>> Judith
>>> Ninestone, Carroll County
>>>
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