On Thursday, December 6th, a team of biologists from the Center for
Conservation Biology spotted a foreign color-banded Red-cockaded Woodpecker
(RCW) during the winter RCW census at the Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove
Preserve. We knew this RCW was foreign to Piney Grove because the color
band combinations did not match any of the birds we have banded or any birds
purposely transported to this site as part of the translocation program.
On the morning of Tuesday, December 11th a group from the Center for
Conservation Biology and Bobby Clontz from the Nature Conservancy
successfully captured the foreign bird so the numbers on the USGS-BBL serial
band could be read to verify the bird's identity. We have since discovered
that this bird was originally banded as a 10-day old female nestling on
5/22/06 by J. Carter and Associates in Tyrell County, North Carolina. This
site is approximately 80 miles (128km) from Piney Grove.
We have long suspected that Piney Grove could be recruiting birds from
outside populations but this is the first time we could fully verify this
phenomena and the first time we have had the opportunity to document the
origin of a foreign bird. One reason for the increased awareness of foreign
birds is because all of the RCWs at Piney Grove are now color banded to
permit demographic study of the population. Color banding of the Piney
Grove population began in 1998 but it took several years before all birds
were marked. It is now easy to observe when new birds migrate into the
population. Over the past several years, we have observed several birds
during surveys we thought were foreign birds. In the winter of 2005 we
observed a foreign banded bird but it disappeared before we could capture it
so we were never able to gain a full identification. We have also observed
RCWs without bands suddenly appear in the Piney Grove population but it was
never known if these we were long-standing Piney Grove birds that had never
been captured or new birds migrating to the site.
Piney Grove Preserve supports the only known population of RCWs in
Virginia. The preserve is absolutely essential for the ongoing species
survival in Virginia. In addition, the positive identification of a foreign
immigrant indicates that Piney Grove has the ability to recruit birds from
outside populations. The new female is roosting overnight in an artificial
cavity tree within a cluster that supports three other Piney Grove birds.
She is the only adult female within this group so there is hope she will
breed at this site during the spring.
RCW population surveys in Virginia are supported by funds from the
Nature Conservancy, Center for Conservation Biology, and the Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Mike Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary
PO Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone: 757-221-1649
fax: 757-221-1650
email:mdwils@xxxxxx
www.ccb-wm.org
