The 2006 breeding season marked another successful year for the
population of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (RCWs) on the Piney Grove Preserve.
On June 29th we observed the successful fledging of the 5th brood produced
at Piney Grove this year. This represents the first time in more than a
decade that Virginia has supported five breeding pairs. It also represents
the second consecutive year that a one new pair has attempted and
successfully produced young bringing the total up from 3 broods to 5 broods
in the last two years. A total of 4 males and 4 females fledged this season
were the product of three 2-chick broods and two one-chick broods. This
brings the total number of adult and hatch year birds at Piney Grove to 34
individuals.
The latest observations reported here punctuate a year-round systematic
effort by the Center for Conservation Biology to determine the survivorship
and productivity of all individual RCWs in the population. Each season all
new chicks are banded with a Fish and Wildlife Service aluminum band and a
unique combination of color bands for later identification. Birds were
banded this year by Bryan Watts of the Center for Conservation Biology and
Don Schwab of the USFWS. We will follow up with a census of the population
in the fall and again in the winter to identify the status and location of
each individual bird.
The recent success at Piney Grove is a result of the dedication and hard
work by the Nature Conservancy to manage the habitat and a skilful strategy
by all conservation partners in translocating birds from South Carolina to
bolster the Virginia population. The recent gain of two new breeding pairs
was a combination of 3 birds brought from South Carolina and one bird that
was hatched in Virginia from parents that were originally translocated from
South Carolina two years ago. An aggressive prescribed burning program
accompanied with the thinning of certain pine stands has opened new areas of
habitat to RCWs for foraging and possible population expansion.
Work on this fragile population is supported by the Virginia Chapter of
the Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland
Fisheries, and the Center for Conservation Biology.
Mike Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary
PO Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone: 757-221-1649
fax: 757-221-1650
email:mdwils@xxxxxx
www.ccb-wm.org
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