The 2007 breeding season marked an important milestone for Red-cockaded
Woodpeckers (RCWs) in Virginia. This year, 6 RCW breeding clusters
successfully fledged young on The Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove Preserve.
This represents the first time in nearly 18 years that Virginia has
supported 6 breeding RCW clusters. It also represents the third consecutive
year that one additional pair has successfully produced young bringing the
total number of breeding clusters from 3 to 6 since 2004.
The term breeding cluster is used to describe an RCW breeding site.
RCWs are cooperative breeders so a breeding site can contain a cluster of
individuals including the resident breeding pair and sometimes additional
non-breeding helper birds that assist in feeding young. In 2007, RCW
breeding clusters at Piney Grove Preserve consisted of 4 sites with helpers
and 2 sites occupied by only the breeding pair. There is also one
additional non-breeding cluster occupied by a lone male RCW.
A total of 3 males and 6 females successfully fledged this season
produced from four 2-chick broods and two 1-chick broods. This brings the
current total number of adult and hatch-year birds to 36 individuals.
The latest observations punctuate a year-round effort by the Center for
Conservation Biology to monitor the demographics of this population. Each
year, all new chicks are banded with a Fish and Wildlife Service aluminum
band and a unique combination of color bands for later identification. We
will follow up with a census of the population in fall and winter to
identify the status and location of each bird.
The recent successes at Piney Grove are the result of a combination of
factors including the dedication and hard work by the Nature Conservancy to
manage habitats important to RCWs, the control of species that compete for
RCW cavity trees, and the translocation of RCWs from South Carolina to
bolster the Virginia population. RCWs require open, old-growth pine forest
with little or no understory. Management of this habitat requires a
proficient prescribed fire campaign to reduce hardwood encroachment. The
Nature Conservancy, with the help of partners from the USFWS, Virginia
Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Virginia Department of
Forestry, were able to burn the majority of the Preserve this season. In
addition, constant vigilance by the Center for Conservation Biology and the
Nature Conservancy was directly responsible in controlling cavity
competitors, including flying squirrels, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and
White-breasted Nuthatches, that would have halted breeding activities at two
sites this year. Finally, two of the three recent gains in the number of
breeding clusters since 2004 are the result of translocated males from South
Carolina that have claimed territories to breed with native Virginia birds.
Other translocated males have successfully reproduced in older clusters on
the Preserve and offspring from translocated birds are also beginning to
reproduce. Native Virginia birds are also doing well. The new breeding
cluster established just this year consists of a native born pair.
Work on this fragile population is supported by funds from 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
