On 29 September, 2005 Bryan Watts from the Center for Conservation
Biology, Neal Humke from The Nature Conservancy, and Sergio Harding from the
Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries traveled down to Carolina
Sandhillls National Wildlife Refuge to capture and translocate Red-cockaded
Woodpeckers to the Piney Grove Preserve in Sussex County. The Virginia
contingent joined with refuge biologists led by Laura Shriver to capture the
birds.
Five individuals including 2 males and 3 females were taken from their
roost cavities between 6:00 and 11:00 PM. Birds were transported in
covered, carrying boxes to Piney Grove through the night. The team arrived
at Piney Grove around 4:00 in the morning and were met by Brian van Eerden,
Mike Wilson, Bobby Clontz, and Chris Lotts. A male and female were placed
in each of two recruitment clusters in the hope of forming two new pairs for
the 2006 breeding season and the third female was placed in a recruitment
cluster with a lone male in the hope that they will form a breeding pair.
Birds were placed in artificial cavities 30-40 feet above the ground in live
loblolly pines and screened in for release at dawn. Screens were removed
from cavities between 7:00 and 7:30 and all birds emerged beautifully and
flew up into crowns, calling, foraging, and interacting with other birds.
Since 2001, partnership organizations have collaborated to introduce 21
birds from Carolina Sandhills to Piney Grove including 11 males and 10
females. All of these birds have been young-of-the-year that have been
moved in mid fall to take advantage of the species' natural period of
dispersal. The focus of this program is to bolster the Virginia population
and to provide much needed genetic diversity. The first breeding of a
translocated bird in Virginia was documented in 2003. In 2004, 2 of the 4
breeding pairs included translocated birds.
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the most endangered bird species in
Virginia. The population reached a low of only 2 breeding pairs in 2002.
Work with this fragile population is supported by the Virginia Department of
Game and Inland Fisheries, the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy,
and the Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary.
Bryan Watts
Center for Conservation Biology
submitted 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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