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133 results for “woodpeckers”
Data of two neotropical Colaptes woodpeckers' nests fate and environmental features associated with them
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Data from: Acorn woodpeckers vocally discriminate current and former group members from non-group members
<p>In species with long-term social relationships, the ability to recognize individuals after extended separation, and the ability to discriminate between former social affiliates that have died and those that have left the group but may return, are likely to be beneficial. Few studies, however, have investigated whether animals can make these discriminations. We presented acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a group-living, cooperatively breeding bird, with playbacks of current group members, former group members still living nearby, former group members that had died or left the study area, and familiar non-group members. Subjects responded more quickly to the calls of non-group members than to the calls of current group members or former group members still living in the study area but did not discriminate between non-group members and former group members that had died or disappeared. This suggests that acorn woodpeckers can vocally recognize both current group members and former group members that have dispersed to nearby groups, and that they either forget former group members that no longer live in the vicinity, or classify them differently from former group members that still live nearby. This study suggests an important role for vocal recognition in maintaining valuable relationships with social affiliates post-dispersal.</p>
Experimental evidence that acorn woodpeckers recognize relationships among third parties no longer living together
<p>Triadic awareness, or knowledge of the relationships between others, is essential to navigating many complex social interactions. While some animals maintain relationships with former group members post-dispersal, recognizing cross-group relationships between others may be more cognitively challenging than simply recognizing relationships between members of a single group because there is typically much less opportunity to observe interactions between individuals that do not live together. We presented acorn woodpeckers (<i>Melanerpes formicivorus</i>), a highly social species,<i> </i>with playback stimuli consisting of a simulated chorus between two different individuals, a behavior that only occurs naturally between social affiliates. Subjects were expected to respond less rapidly if they perceived the callers as having an affiliative relationship. Females responded more rapidly to a pair of callers that never co-occurred in the same social group, and responded less rapidly to callers that were members of the same social group at the time of the experiment and to callers that last lived in the same group before the subject had hatched. This suggests that female acorn woodpeckers can infer the existence of relationships between conspecifics that live in separate groups by observing them interact after the conspecifics in question no longer live in the same group as each other. This study provides experimental evidence that nonhuman animals may recognize relationships between third parties that no longer live together and emphasizes the potential importance of social knowledge about distant social affiliates.</p>
Data from: Wild acorn woodpeckers recognize associations between individuals in other groups
According to the social intelligence hypothesis, understanding the cognitive demands of the social environment is key to understanding the evolution of intelligence. Many important socio-cognitive abilities, however, have primarily been studied in a narrow subset of the social environment—within-group social interactions—despite the fact that between-group social interactions often have a substantial effect on fitness. In particular, triadic awareness (knowledge about the relationships and associations between others) is critical for navigating many types of complex social interactions, yet no existing study has investigated whether wild animals can track associations between members of other social groups. We investigated inter-group triadic awareness in wild acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a socially complex group-living bird. We presented woodpeckers with socially incongruous playbacks that simulated two outsiders from different groups calling together, and socially congruous playbacks that simulated two outsiders from the same group calling together. Subjects responded more quickly to the incongruous playbacks, suggesting that they were aware that the callers belonged to two different groups. This study provides the first demonstration that animals can recognize associations between members of other groups under natural circumstances, and highlights the importance of considering how inter-group social selection pressures may influence the evolution of cognition.
Data from: Causes of seasonal decline in reproduction of the cooperatively-breeding acorn woodpecker
Clutch size and reproductive success decline seasonally in a wide range of temperate avian taxa. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain such declines: the "timing" hypothesis, which states that conditions affecting reproduction decline intrinsically with date, and the "quality" hypothesis, which proposes that high-quality individuals or individuals in high-quality situations breed earlier. We contrasted the relative importance of these two hypotheses using a long-term dataset of the cooperatively-breeding acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) in central coastal California (USA). This population exhibits an 11% seasonal decline in clutch size, a 60% seasonal decline in fledging success, and a 77% seasonal decline in fledgling overwinter survival. Clutch size tracks seasonal availability of flying insects, which are a likely ecological driver of the seasonal decline in reproduction and, because of the nonlinear relationship of flying insects with date, constitute a likely factor constraining even earlier nesting. By parsing lay date data into within-female and between-female components, we found that only the within-female component had a statistically significant direct effect on clutch size, supporting the timing hypothesis. For both fledging success and overwinter survival, however, both within- and between-female effects were highly significant, with between-female effects (differences in female quality) being stronger than within-female effects. These results suggest that timing per se is a key factor affecting the seasonal decline in clutch size, but that both differences in female quality and an intrinsic seasonal decline in conditions drive the even more dramatic seasonal declines in fledging success and overwinter survivorship of fledglings.
Unraveling the cavity-nesting network at large spatial scales: The biogeographic role of woodpeckers as ecosystem engineers
<p><strong>Aim</strong>: Cavities are usually a limiting resource for several forest-dwelling vertebrates, with effects that propagate through ecological networks. Although diverse assemblages of primary excavators (e.g., woodpeckers) are assumed to increase cavities, other forest resources can also limit populations of primary excavators and cavity users, thus undermining the ecological role of excavators over different scales. We aim to test the biogeographical-scale relationships between primary excavators and cavity users by distinguishing the contribution of forest characteristics.</p> <p><strong>Location</strong>: Southern South America</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong>: We used species distribution models, which combine bioclimatic and remote sensing derived variables, to map the richness of vertebrates composing the cavity network of temperate and Mediterranean forests of South America. Based on a resampling procedure for ensuring spatial independence, we fitted structural equation models to estimate causal relationships between forest characteristics and cavity-user vertebrates.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: Secondary cavity users (obligated, habitat generalists and forest specialists) were positively and strongly influenced by the richness of primary excavators, while mammal richness was more influenced by tree richness. The richness of trees and <em>Nothofagus</em> tree species influenced positively the richness of primary excavators and secondary cavity users. Canopy height and net primary productivity affected positively secondary cavity users.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions</strong>: Our results confirm the role of primary excavators as ecosystem engineers but highlight the importance of considering large spatial scales when analyzing cavity-nesting networks. Biogeographical patterns of tree diversity and forest structure can be important drivers of cavity-nesting networks that remain hidden when studies are conducted over fine spatial scales. </p>
Cranial kinesis facilitates quick retraction of stuck woodpecker beaks
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Much like nails that are hammered into wood, the beaks of woodpeckers regularly get stuck upon impact. A kinematic video analysis of pecking by black woodpeckers shows how they manage to quickly withdraw their beaks, revealing a two-phase pattern: first a few degrees of nose-down rotation about the nasofrontal hinge causes the tip of the upper beak to be retruded while its proximal end is lifted. Next, the head is lifted, causing nose-up rotation about the nasofrontal hinge while the lower beak starts retruding and initiates the final freeing. We hypothesise that these consecutive actions, taking place in about 0.05 s, facilitate beak retraction by exploiting the presumably low frictional resistance between the upper and lower beak keratin surfaces, allowing them to slide past each other. It also demonstrates the counter-intuitive value of maintaining cranial kinesis in a species adapted to deliver forceful impacts.</span></p>
Woodpecker drum evolution: an analysis of covariation in elements of a multicomponent acoustic display among and within species
<p>Multicomponent signals are found throughout the animal kingdom, but how these elaborate displays evolve and diversify is still unclear. Here, we explore the evolution of the woodpecker drum display. Two components of this territorial, sexually selected signal, drum speed and drum length, are used by territory holders to assess the threat level of an intruding drummer. We explore the coevolution of these display components both among and within species. Among species, we find evidence for strong coevolution of drum speed and length. Within species, we find that drum speed and length vary largely independent of each other. However, in some species, there is evidence of covariation in certain portions of the drum length distribution. The observed differences in component covariation at the macro- and microevolutionary scales highlights the importance of studying signal structure both among and within species. In all cases of covariation at both evolutionary scales, the relationship between drum speed and length is positive, indicating mutual elaboration of display components, and not a performance trade-off.</p>
Data from: Inter-annual climate variation influences nest initiation date and nest productivity of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker at the northwestern edge of its range
<p>Climate change, including directional shifts in weather averages and extremes and increased inter-annual weather variation, is influencing demograhy and distributions for many bird species. We examined how temperature and precipitation coinciding with multiple nesting seasons affected overall nesting success and productivity for two red-cockaded woodpecker (<em>Dryobates borealis,</em> RCW) populations at the species' northwestern range periphery. We used 26 years of nesting data (1991-2016) from the two RCW populations to determine if inter-annual weather variation has affected nesting pehnology and productivity. We conducted analyses at both broad nesting periods (30 and 60 days before nesting; 40 days overalpping the nesting period up to fledging) and short windows to capture the effects of temperature and precipitation extremes on individual nests. For both RCW populations, warmer early spring temperatures generally advanced nesting and increased clutch size and fledgling number. However, effects of average precipitation varied depending on amount and duration of precipitation in different time periods. At the nest level, temperature and precipitation extremes were unrelated to nest success and loss of nestlings (brood loss). Our results indicate that RCWs are responding to the effects of climate change in various ways, with warming trends having a positive benefit on the species at its northwestern range periphery.</p>
Demography and linked selection interact to shape the genomic landscape of codistributed woodpeckers during the Ice Age
<p><span>The influence of genetic drift on population dynamics during Pleistocene glacial cycles is well understood, but the role of selection in shaping patterns of genomic variation during these events is less explored. We used resequenced whole genomes to</span><span> i</span><span>nvestigate </span><span>how demography and natural selection interact to generate the genomic landscapes of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, species co-distributed in previously glaciated North America. First, we explored the spatial and temporal patterns of genomic diversity produced by neutral evolution. Next, we tested (1) whether levels of nucleotide diversity along the genome are correlated with intrinsic genomic properties, such as recombination rate and gene density, and (2) whether different demographic trajectories impacted the efficacy of selection. Our results revealed cycles of bottleneck and expansion and genetic structure associated with glacial refugia. Nucleotide diversity varied widely along the genome, but this variation was highly correlated between the species, suggesting the presence of conserved genomic features. In both taxa, nucleotide diversity was positively correlated with recombination rate and negatively correlated with gene density, suggesting that linked selection played a role in reducing diversity. Despite strong fluctuations in effective population size, the maintenance of relatively large populations during glaciations may have facilitated selection. Under these conditions, we found evidence that the individual demographic trajectory of populations modulated linked selection, with purifying selection being more efficient in removing deleterious alleles in large populations. These results highlight that while genome-wide variation reflects the expected signature of demographic change during climatic perturbations, the interaction of multiple processes produces a predictable and highly heterogeneous genomic landscape.</span></p>
Incorporating pyrodiversity into wildlife habitat assessments for rapid post-fire management: A woodpecker case study
<p>Spatial and temporal variation in fire characteristics – termed pyrodiversity – are increasingly recognized as important factors that structure wildlife communities in fire-prone ecosystems, yet there have been few attempts to incorporate pyrodiversity or post-fire habitat dynamics into predictive models of animal distributions and abundance to support post-fire management. We use the black-backed woodpecker – a species associated with burned forests – as a case study to demonstrate a pathway for incorporating pyrodiversity into wildlife habitat assessments for adaptive management. Employing monitoring data (2009–2019) from post-fire forests in California, we developed three competing occupancy models describing different hypotheses for habitat associations: (1) a static model representing an existing management tool, (2) a temporal model accounting for years since fire, and (3) a temporal-landscape model which additionally incorporates emerging evidence from field studies about the influence of pyrodiversity. Evaluating predictive ability, we found superior support for the temporal-landscape model, which showed a positive relationship between occupancy and pyrodiversity and interactions between habitat associations and years since fire. We incorporated this new temporal-landscape model into an RShiny application to make this decision-support tool accessible to decision-makers: <a href="https://birdpop.org/pages/bbwoPredPostFireDist.php">https://birdpop.org/pages/bbwoPredPostFireDist.php</a>.</p>
Is green the new black? Black-backed Woodpecker vital rates do not differ between unburned and burned forests within a pyrodiverse landscape
<p>Woodpeckers can reflect rapid changes to forest health and often serve as indicator species to help guide forest management decisions. The Black-backed Woodpecker (<em>Picoides</em> <em>arcticus</em>) is known for its strong association with recently burned forests and is a species of conservation concern due to habitat loss stemming from post-fire management of burned forest. Recently, several studies have found the Black-backed Woodpecker occupying extensive areas of unburned (i.e., green) forests in the western part of its range during the breeding season, raising questions about whether green forests can support viable nesting populations in this region. We studied breeding Black-backed Woodpeckers in southern Oregon, USA to evaluate whether two vital rates critical to population recruitment – nest survival and post-fledging survival – differed between green and burned forests. During 2018, 2019, and 2021, we monitored 91 Black-backed Woodpecker nests (<em>n</em> = 34 in green forest, <em>n</em> = 57 in burned forest) and found that neither daily nest survival rate nor reproductive output (i.e., the number of fledglings per successful nest) differed between nests located in green and burned forest; however, nestling body condition was slightly enhanced in green forest. We also quantified survival of recently fledged individuals using VHF radio telemetry and found that the survival rate of birds in green forest was nearly identical to those in burned forest, with most mortalities occurring within 4 weeks of fledging. Taken together, our results indicate that Black-backed Woodpeckers in green forests were equally successful at breeding as conspecifics in recently burned forest, although nesting densities in the green forest we studied were lower than those in burned forest. Our findings indicate certain types of green forest, particularly mature lodgepole pine, can support viable populations of the Black-backed Woodpecker in the western portion of its range. This finding has conservation implications given that green forest occupies the majority of the forested landscape in this region and is often juxtaposed to areas subjected to high-severity fire. Therefore, practices that promote pyrodiversity – landscape-level spatial and temporal variability in fire effects – as well as connectivity between green and burned forest within fire-prone landscapes are likely to provide the greatest conservation benefit for this species. </p>
Data from: Wood hardness drives nest site selection in woodpeckers of the humid Chaco
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Data from: Causes of seasonal decline in reproduction of the cooperatively-breeding acorn woodpecker
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Data from: Evolution of plumage patterns in pattern morphospace: A phylogenetic analysis of melanerpine woodpeckers
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Incorporating pyrodiversity into wildlife habitat assessments for rapid post-fire management: A woodpecker case study
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Data from: Wild acorn woodpeckers recognize associations between individuals in other groups
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Cranial kinesis facilitates quick retraction of stuck woodpecker beaks
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Data from: Magellanic woodpeckers as indicators of wood-dwelling beetle diversity in trees with different levels of decay and under changing environmental conditions
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Demography and linked selection interact to shape the genomic landscape of codistributed woodpeckers during the Ice Age
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Allen Brain Atlas
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