On Thursday, December 6th, a team of biologists from the Center for Conservation Biology spotted a foreign color-banded Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) during the winter RCW census at the Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove Preserve. We knew this RCW was foreign to Piney Grove because the color band combinations did not match any of the birds we have banded or any birds purposely transported to this site as part of the translocation program.
On the morning of Tuesday, December 11th a group from the Center for Conservation Biology and Bobby Clontz from the Nature Conservancy successfully captured the foreign bird so the numbers on the USGS-BBL serial band could be read to verify the bird's identity. We have since discovered that this bird was originally banded as a 10-day old female nestling on 5/22/06 by J. Carter and Associates in Tyrell County, North Carolina. This site is approximately 80 miles (128km) from Piney Grove.
We have long suspected that Piney Grove could be recruiting birds from outside populations but this is the first time we could fully verify this phenomena and the first time we have had the opportunity to document the origin of a foreign bird. One reason for the increased awareness of foreign birds is because all of the RCWs at Piney Grove are now color banded to permit demographic study of the population. Color banding of the Piney Grove population began in 1998 but it took several years before all birds were marked. It is now easy to observe when new birds migrate into the population. Over the past several years, we have observed several birds during surveys we thought were foreign birds. In the winter of 2005 we observed a foreign banded bird but it disappeared before we could capture it so we were never able to gain a full identification. We have also observed RCWs without bands suddenly appear in the Piney Grove population but it was never known if these we were long-standing Piney Grove birds that had never been captured or new birds migrating to the site.
Piney Grove Preserve supports the only known population of RCWs in Virginia. The preserve is absolutely essential for the ongoing species survival in Virginia. In addition, the positive identification of a foreign immigrant indicates that Piney Grove has the ability to recruit birds from outside populations. The new female is roosting overnight in an artificial cavity tree within a cluster that supports three other Piney Grove birds. She is the only adult female within this group so there is hope she will breed at this site during the spring.
RCW population surveys in Virginia are supported by funds from the Nature Conservancy, Center for Conservation Biology, and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
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 You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.
