Projects

• Habitat Relationships
• Regional Population Trends
• Autonomous Recording Units
• Habitats of special concern
• Management and Land-use Effects
• Bird Species of Special Concern
  • Flammulated Owl
  • Goshawk
  • Black-Backed Woodpecker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
• Fire Ecology Program
• Riparian Bird Distribution
• Riparian Restoration Program
• Mexico and Wintering Birds
• Education

Bird Species of Special Concern

Pileated Woodpecker

The idea–

The Pileated Woodpecker is a species of concern because it is an old-growth associate requiring large areas for territories, and is especially vulnerable to both local- and landscape-scale habitat alterations. Although it can be found in many types of forest, it needs to have some old-growth in its territory. The primary management concern is the provision of required forest habitats. These include both deciduous and coniferous forests with a tall closed canopy and a high basal area. The most important characteristic of occupied forests is that they are extensive, include mature trees and snags, have a more or less open forest floor littered with decaying wood, and have a relatively humid environment (such as streamside forests) that promotes fungal decay and the ant, termite, and beetle populations on which these birds feed. Successful management in an area requires maintenance of old-growth forest with dense canopy cover, especially within broad corridors along streams and lakes.

Methods–

We have accumulated a large number of observations for this species during the course of our many monitoring projects.

Results–

You can use our newly developed geospatial web interface for interactive maps to see where we have detected this species.

You can also overlay our predictive habitat model for this species, developed from data collected during our long-term Landbird Monitoring Program (1994-2004).

To view PIWO results from just our 2007 old-growth project, download...

Online resources and literature:

• Learn more about the Pileated woodpecker from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
• Aubry, K. B., and C. M. Raley. 2002. The Pileated Woodpecker as a Keystone Habitat Modifier in the Pacific Northwest USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-181. 2002.http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/gtr-181/023_AubryRaley.pdf
• Bull, Evelyn L.; Clark, Abe A.; Shepherd, Jay F. 2005. Short-term effects of fuel reduction on pileated woodpeckers in northeastern Oregon—a pilot study. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-564. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 17 p. http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rp564.pdf
• Jackson, J., G. Hammerson, and F. Dirrigl, Jr.; D.W. Mehlman. 1998. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) Species Management Abstract. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA http://conserveonline.org/library/piwo.doc
• Samson, F.B. 2006. A Conservation assessment of the northern goshawk, blacked-backed woodpecker, flammulated owl, and pileated woodpecker in the Northern Region, US Forest Service. Unpublished report on file, Northern Region, Missoula, Montana, USA.

Funders–

USDA Forest Service Northern Region

Contact–

 

     dr. richard hutto