Sorry for the delayed response on Tom's drumming query:
I cannot recall reading about different species using the same drumming
"post" (a term of art that covers all substrates, including trees, houses,
signs, etc.). I am not surprised that this would occur in the same stand of
trees where both pairs may have been nesting. The general description of a
drumming post is that it is typically one of the most resonant spots in the
breeding territory, generally very close to--but not usually the same
as--the nest tree.
I would be a little surprised if both species used the same drumming post
in the same period of time. Perhaps one of the species (e.g. the
Black-backed) nested a bit earlier than the other (the Three-toed) so that
they were not using the same post at the same time. This would potentially
set up a bit of a territorial problem. I visited this TT nest a few times
during the season, and the TT pair favored 2 or 3 drumming posts fairly
close to the nest. Tom reported the TT drumming on a tree farther from its
nest, and after the young had fledged. I suspect that the Black-backs would
have dispersed even farther away by this time.
Another possibility is that the Black-backed was prospectively drumming
when it was reported by Mark. I don't recall anyone finding a Black-backed
nest in that stand, and this individual may have been drumming to attract a
mate early in the season. It may have been unsuccessful in this location
and may have set up a territory with a mate in another location (the nest
on Scott Pass trailhead road?).
Good observations and learning exercise for all of us!
Steve Shunk
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On Sat, Jul 2, 2016 at 3:43 PM, Tom Crabtree <tc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I went out to the American Three-toed Woodpecker site along Forest Service
Road 1018 this morning. It was eerily quiet. Sometime between 8am
yesterday and 9:00am today the young fledged and were nowhere to be seen or
heard. About 10 minutes later I heard drumming coming from the flagged
“Black-backed Woodpecker drumming tree.” I went over there and found the
adult male Am. Three-toed drumming from the top of it. It stayed around
the area drumming, always perching at the top of a snag for the next hour.
Three of the four trees it used had a thin spike protruding from the top
that it would hammer on. It eventually flew across the road and went deep
into the forest.
A question for our resident woodpecker expert and author, is it usual for
different species to share a drumming tree? I didn’t see or hear the
Black-backeds in the area, but Mark Gonzalez initially found the
Black-backed using the same snag about 6 weeks ago and others have seen it
using the same snag a few times since then.
Down the road in the open area near the Millican Crater road I found many
birds still on territory, including 6 Thick-billed Fox Sparrows, 2
White-crowned Sparrows, 1 Willow Flycatcher, 1 Lazuli Bunting and 2
Green-tailed Towhees.
Tom Crabtree, Bend
