'tis interesting that they were missed in habitat lacking Bigleaf Maples. They
nest here and we have no Bigleaf Maples, but instead a mix of conifers and the
other deciduous trees you mentioned. We also are not what I would call
riparian. We are not close to a river/stream but a hilly, wooded neighborhood
with only a few trickles going through that swell a little when it rains. The
favorite tree for the Red-breasted Sapsuckers in my yard is the Chokecherry,
Prunus virginiana. I have watched them drill wells in it on numerous
occasions. Red-breasted Sapsuckers are versatile birds.
Lori Markoff
Eugene
-----Original Message-----
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Joel Geier
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 6:53 AM
To: SJJag@xxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: Red-breasted Sapsuckers on valley floor
Hi Steve & all,
Red-breasted Sapsuckers seem to be fairly widespread as a nesting species in
riparian habitats in the Willamette Valley, though not as common as Hairy
Woodpecker or Downy Woodpecker.
From a nesting-season study of riparian habitats that Bob Altman conducted for
the American Bird Conservancy a few years ago (not sure if the results are
published yet), Red-breasted Sapsuckers are roughly half as abundant as Hairy
Woodpeckers, which in turn are roughly half as abundant Downy Woodpeckers.
Within WV riparian habitats, Red-breasted Sapsuckers were detected only in
situations where the dominant components of the canopy included either big-leaf
maples, conifers, or both. Of course there are many patches of bottomland
forest in the valley that fit that description.
However, it's interesting that none were detected in forests where big-leaf
maples were absent/sparse but other deciduous trees (ash, alder, oak etc.) were
dominant in the canopy.
Good birding,
Joel
On Tue, 2015-04-14 at 05:31 +0000, SJJag@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Interesting topic as we see R-B Sapsuckers in our area with regularity, I had
not recognized this as perhaps unusual.
Our neighborhood is along the Willamette between Oregon City and Milwaukie.
One or two pair are known to nest nearby.
Steve Jaggers
