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1 March 2004 RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER NESTLING PROVISIONING AND REPRODUCTION IN TWO DIFFERENT PINE HABITATS
RICHARD R. SCHAEFER, RICHARD N. CONNER, D. CRAIG RUDOLPH, DANIEL SAENZ
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Abstract

We obtained nestling provisioning and reproductive data from 24 Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) groups occupying two different pine habitats—longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and a mixture of loblolly (P. taeda) and shortleaf pine (P. echinata)—in eastern Texas during 1990 and 1991. Habitat data were collected within 800 m of each group's cavity-tree cluster. Feeding trips per nest and prey biomass per feeding trip were significantly greater in loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat. There were few significant correlations between reproductive/provisioning and habitat variables in either pine habitat. Pines dying from infestation by southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) were more common in loblolly-shortleaf than in longleaf pine habitat. In addition, adult male Red-cockaded Woodpeckers weighed more in loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat. Indices of southern pine beetle abundance in loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat were negatively correlated with number of feeding trips per nestling, but positively correlated with prey biomass delivered to nestlings. We hypothesize that the greater abundance of southern pine beetles and associated arthropods in loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat, and the resulting higher frequency of dying pines containing an abundant food source, were associated with an elevated prey biomass available to both nestling and adult Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.

RICHARD R. SCHAEFER, RICHARD N. CONNER, D. CRAIG RUDOLPH, and DANIEL SAENZ "RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER NESTLING PROVISIONING AND REPRODUCTION IN TWO DIFFERENT PINE HABITATS," The Wilson Bulletin 116(1), 31-40, (1 March 2004). https://doi.org/10.1676/0043-5643(2004)116[0031:RWNPAR]2.0.CO;2
Received: 29 June 2003; Accepted: 1 April 2004; Published: 1 March 2004
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