Southern Research Station Headquarters - Asheville, NC
Main Logo of Southern Research Station, Stating: Southern Research Station - Asheville, NC, with a saying of 'Science you can use!'
[Images] Five photos of different landscape

Publication Information

Mail this page   Give us your feedback on this publication

Title: Woodpecker Excavation and Use of Cavities in Polystyrene Snags
Author(s): Conner, Richard N.; Saenz, Daniel
Date: 1996
Source: Wilson Bull., 108(3), 1996, pp. 449-456
Description: We examined woodpecker excavation and use of artificial polystyrene snags in four forest types in eastern Texas for five years. Twenty-three of 47 artificial snags were used by Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) for cavity excavation and subsequent nocturnal roosting; they did not use the artificial snags for nesting. Although six ather species of woodpeckers were present in the area, only Downy Woodpeckers excavated cavities in the artificial cavity substrate. Entrances to cavities in artificial snags became enlarged within several months of excavation. Other wildlife species using abandoned cavities in artificial snags were Carolina Chickadees (Parus carolinensis), Prothonotary Warblers (Protonoraria citrea), southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans), and red wasps (Polistes sp.). In one instance, Carolina Chickadees excavated their own cavity and nested within a polystyrene snag. Until an artificial cavity substrate acceptable for both woodpecker excavation and nesting can be found, the utility of artificial snags as a means to augment woodpecker nesting substrate remains inadequate.
View and Print this Publication (168 KB)
Pristine Version: An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (4.8 MB)
Publication Notes:
  • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
  • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
  • Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS Webmaster, srswebmaster@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable.
[ Get Acrobat ] Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility




Publication Links:

FIA Resource Bulletins

Publications Search


Search for on-line publications
containing the following:

 


(Uncheck this box to search all R&D Publications.)

Small logo of the USDASmall logo of the Forest Service