On 2 June, 2005, Bryan Watts and Fletcher Smith from the Center for
Conservation Biology banded the last Red-cockaded Woodpecker chick of the
2005 breeding season. The single chick represents the 4th brood of the year
on the Piney Grove Preserve and was produced by a new breeding pair. A
3-chick brood was banded on 12 May, a 2-chick brood was banded on 19 May,
and another 3-chick brood was banded on 29 May. All broods were 7-8 days
old at banding. Each chick was banded with a Fish and Wildlife Service
aluminum band and a unique combination of color bands for later
identification. Other banding assistants were Dana Bradshaw, Mike Wilson,
Marian Watts, and Neil Humke.
Hard work by The Nature Conservancy to manage the habitat at the Piney Grove
Preserve is beginning to pay off. With successive prescribed burns the site
is beginning to take on the structure and vegetation of a pine savanna.
This is the first year in more than a decade that Virginia has supported 4
breeding pairs of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. In addition, populations of
Brown-headed Nuthatches, Chuck-wills-widows, Prairie Warblers, Chipping
Sparrows and other species have grown rapidly. With some additional burn
cycles, we are hopeful that the site will support a population of Bachman's
Sparrows to complete the savanna bird community.
Work with this fragile population is supported by the Virginia Department of
Game and Inland Fisheries and the Virginia Chapter of The Nature
Conservancy.
Bryan Watts
sent for Bryan by 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
www.ccb-wm.org
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