Reintroduction and post-release movements of red-cockaded woodpecker groups in eastern Texas

Published source details Carrie N.R., Conner R.N., Rudolph D.C. & Carrie D.K. (1999) Reintroduction and post-release movements of red-cockaded woodpecker groups in eastern Texas. Journal of Wildlife Management, 63, 824-832.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites of woodpeckers by removing competitor species Action Link
	Translocate woodpeckers Action Link

Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites of woodpeckers by removing competitor species

A study between 1994 and 1996 in a mixed pine Pinus spp. forest in eastern Texas, USA (Carrie et al. 1999) found that reintroducing red-cockaded woodpeckers Picoides borealis into parts of their former range was successful when southern flying squirrels Glaucomys volans (a competitor for, and kleptoparasite of, nesting cavities) were removed before woodpecker release. This study is discussed in detail in ‘Translocate individuals’.
Translocate woodpeckers

A before-and-after trial in Texas, USA (Carrie et al. 1999), found that of 17 red-cockaded woodpeckers Picoides borealis translocated to an open pine forest site, 12 (71%) established territories: three (18%) at their release sites and the others an average of 2.8 km away. In total, five pairs of subadults and seven individual birds (four male, three female) were released between December 1994 and March 1995. Only one of the pairs released (20%) remained together and five birds (three male, two female) went missing. In total, eight out of nine pairs of woodpeckers newly discovered at the sites in 1995-6 (89%) contained at least one bird translocated from elsewhere. Birds were released into unoccupied ‘clusters’ (see ‘Threat: Natural systems modifications – Forest modifications’ for details), with at least three such stands within 1 km of the release site to allow dispersal. Stands were also provided with cavity inserts (see ‘Provide artificial nesting sites’) and southern flying squirrels Glaucomys volans were removed from all sites to reduce competition (see ‘Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites by removing or excluding competitor species’).