Lewis's Woodpecker
Common
Name: Lewis's Woodpecker (LEWO)
Scientific
Name:
Melanerpes
lewis
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: NOT on IUCN Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
Canada Species at Risk Act (SARA) - Species of Concern;
U.S.
– Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 284 (Tobalske 1997)
Distribution:
Breeds from s British Columbia (also Vancouver Island), s-c
Alberta, Montana, sw South Dakota, and nw Nebraska south to s-c California
(San Luis Obispo and Kern counties), c Arizona, s New Mexico, s Colorado,
and extreme w Oklahoma. Winters
from s British Columbia, s Idaho, w Montana, and n Colorado south
irregularly to n Baja California, Sonora (including Isla Tiburón), n
Chihuahua, s New Mexico, and w Texas.
Casual north and east to n Alberta, c and s Saskatchewan, Manitoba,
Ontario, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, and c Texas (AOU
1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Open forest and woodland, often logged or burned, including oak and
coniferous (primarily ponderosa pine), open riparian woodland with tall
cottonwoods, orchards, less commonly in pinyon-juniper (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs: Oregon/Washington Bird
Conservation Plan (including Columbia Plateau; East Slope Cascades;
Westside Lowlands & Valleys; and Northern Rocky Mountains); Colorado
Bird Conservation Plan (including Colorado Plateau; Central Shortgrass
Prairie; Southern Rocky Mountains); Nevada Bird Conservation Plan; Montana
Bird Conservation Plan; Canadian Action Plans (Dunn 2002); BNA No. 284 (Tobalske
1997); PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in Flight Science Committee
2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: Mo2 (BBS trends have very
low precision)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – Improve the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc)
- High
priority candidate for rapid status assessment (PIF Monitoring Needs
doc)
- Supplemental
LEWO Surveys
- Determine population trends for LEWO in
Nevada
(
Nevada
); Periodically assess LEWO populations in
British Columbia
(Canadian Action Plan)
- Determine
reasons for LEWO decline in abundance & range since the 1960's and
if still continuing today (BNA)
- Inventory
LEWO habitat
- Inventory potential habitat in the Rogue and Umpqua Valleys for LEWO
(Oregon/Washington); Conduct inventory of size, location and condition
of old-growth stands of Douglas-fir/ponderosa pine on drier, lower
elevation sites (habitat for priority species like LEWO) (Montana)
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- LEWO
Nesting Ecology
- Study the nesting ecology of LEWO (Oregon/Washington); Nesting
ecology of priority species, particularly LEWO (
Montana
)
- More
information on LEWO habitat preferences (for different habitat types)
– Determine the importance of shrubby understory in Oak-Pine
Woodlands and lowland oak savannah to LEWO (Oregon/Washington); LEWO
specific habitat preferences in Nevada (Nevada); Dry
forest habitat use by priority species, particularly LEWO (Montana);
Importance of different habitats (like ponderosa pine and riparian
cottonwood) to LEWO (Montana); Determine relative importance of
various habitat types (riparian cottonwood, ponderosa pine forest) and
roles of habitat degradation or loss (BNA)
- Determine
what makes post-fire ponderosa pine habitat suitable for LEWO
(Oregon/Washington)
- Information
on abundance & reproductive success across gradients of habitat
quality (BNA)
- Information
on LEWO social systems (cooperative breeding, extent of colonial
nesting, cooperative mast storage) (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Determine
what mitigation measures replicate the effects of natural flows in
riparian deciduous forests (
Montana
)
- Determine
whether logged areas serve as ecological traps (sinks) for priority
species like LEWO (
Montana
)
Effects
of Human Development/Disturbance
- Determine
effects of human development on LEWO (BNA)
Landscape
- Determine
what patch sizes are most productive for LEWO populations
(Oregon/Washington)
Species
Interactions
- European
Starlings
- Identify effective ways to reduce competition from starlings for
cavities (Oregon/Washington); Determine the impact of competition for
nest cavities with European Starlings on LEWO reproductive success (
Colorado
; BNA)
Migration
- Information
on LEWO migratory routes (BNA)
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- Determine
effects of pesticides on LEWO (BNA)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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