Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2010 report

During the calendar year of 2010, 57 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were identified within the Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve. This included 37 birds that were hatched at Piney Grove from previous years, 18 fledglings produced during the 2010 breeding season, and 2 birds translocated to Piney Grove in previous years. A collaborative effort of habitat management, population monitoring and management, and translocation of birds into the population have been ongoing at the Preserve since 2000 has had dramatically positive results. Since 2001, the total population and the number of potential breeding clusters have more than doubled. Thirty-five adult birds were believed to be present within the Piney Grove Preserve going into the breeding season of 2010. This is the highest spring total since monitoring began at the Preserve. Seven successful breeding attempts were documented during the 2010 season at C-1, C-3, C-5, C-7, C-8, C10 and C13. Breeding productivity for the 2010 season netted a combined total of 18 chicks that survived to fledge. Forty-two birds were detected during the winter survey. This includes 12 of the 18 birds that fledged in 2010. In the winter assessment, birds were roosting in 11 different cluster areas including C-1, C-3, C-4, C-5, C-6, C-7, C-8, C-9 C-10, C-13, and C-15. As in years past, the single bird roosting in C-4 was part of the C-3 clan. A single bird from C-9 joined the foraging group from C-7, and two birds roosting in C-15 joined the C-8 group. In 2010, Piney Grove contained 159 cavities in live trees including 42 start cavities, 52 completed cavities, and 65 artificial inserts. Sixteen new cavities or new cavity starts were added to the number of known cavities this past year. Six trees died between 2009 and 2010 resulting in a loss of nine cavities or cavity starts. Six new trees were found with newly completed natural cavities and four cavity starts. Six artificial inserts were installed in new trees creating two new recruitment clusters, C17 and C18. One unrecorded relic cavity and three starts were discovered in previously tagged cavity trees. There were 37 instances of cavity competitors or nest material in RCW cavities during the April, May and June 2010. Southern flying squirrels accounted for 11 of the 37 occurrences. A total of 19 individual flying squirrels were removed on 11 occasions from eight of the 117 available cavity trees. Other species found include white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, great-crested flycatcher, unidentified snake species, and unidentified bee and wasp species

Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2011 report

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers at Piney Grove set new high marks for population size and breeding productivity in 2011. Nine breeding attempts were documented during the 2011 season. This is the highest number attempted since Piney Grove has been monitored. This was also the first year breeding occurred at Clusters 6 and 15. A breeding attempt in Cluster 7 failed after one egg was laid in the nest cavity then disappeared. No second attempt was initiated. A combined total of 25 chicks survived to fledge from the 8 successful nests. The inaugural breeding event at Cluster 15 might be the first example of “budding” at Piney Grove. Budding is typically defined as the splitting of two clans into separate breeding clusters where no additional space is used. Budding is considered different from “pioneering” where birds move into a new space to initiate a new breeding cluster. Prior to this season, the birds at Cluster 15 regularly foraged and even assisted with breeding duties at Cluster 8. Most of the birds that occupied Cluster 15 prior to 2011 were offspring from Cluster 8. However, now Clusters 8 and 15 now behave individually and birds no longer forage together. A total of 70 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were identified within Piney Grove preserve in 2011 (Table 1). This included 42 birds that were hatched at Piney Grove from previous years, 26 fledglings produced during the 2010 breeding season, 2 birds translocated to Piney Grove in previous years. Forty-four adult birds were detected within the Piney Grove Preserve leading into the breeding season of 2011 (Table 1). This is the highest spring total since monitoring began at the Preserve, beating the high mark in spring of 2010 by 10 more birds and almost triple the number counted in 2002 when only 16 birds were present. Forty-seven birds were detected during the winter survey. This includes 35 birds hatched at Piney Grove before 2011 and 12 of the 25 birds fledged this summer. This is a much lower retention rate of fledgling birds making it to the winter survey compared to other years. It appears as the last two remaining birds that were translocated from the Carolina Sandhills are now gone from the population. The last two remaining birds were breeding males in Cluster 1 and 7. Both birds attempted breeding this past summer but the male at Cluster 7 disappeared after one egg was laid and the nest subsequently failed. Neither were detected during the winter survey. In the winter assessment, birds were roosting in 13 different cluster areas including although two of these areas forage with nearby clusters thereby reducing the number of active clans to eleven

Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2012 report

Two-thousand twelve was a champion year for Red-cockaded Woodpecker recovery at the Piney Grove Preserve with new high marks for breeding pairs, population size and breeding productivity. Ten successful breeding attempts were documented in 2012 reaching an initial recovery goal for the Nature Conservancy property and the highest number of breeding groups since Piney Grove Preserve has been monitored. The Preserve gained one more breeding group this season to reach this new high mark. The additional breeding group was a direct result from the installation of a new artificial recruitment cluster in the summer of 2011. A modern day high of 26 chicks survived to fledge from the 10 successful nests. A total of 71 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were identified within Piney Grove preserve in 2012. This included 45 birds that were hatched at Piney Grove from previous years and the 26 fledglings produced during the 2012 breeding season. Forty-four adult birds were believed to be present within the Piney Grove Preserve going into the breeding season of 2012 (Table 1). This equals the highest spring total set in 2011 that collectively beat the previous high mark in spring of 2010 by 7 birds and almost triple the number counted in 2002 when only 16 birds were present. Fifty-three birds were detected during the winter survey. This includes 39 adult birds hatched at Piney Grove before 2012 and 14 of the 26 birds fledged during the 2012 breeding season. This is a gain of 6 birds in the winter population from 2011. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker population continues to set high marks at Piney Grove Preserve as a result of many years of population, habitat, and cavity tree management

Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2013 report

Red-cockaded woodpecker recovery at the Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve has been a monumental achievement. Over the past 10 years, monitoring and management has worked together to more than tripled the number of breeding groups from a modern low of 3 in 2000 to the 10 groups breeding there now. The current level of success has culminated from more than a decade long path of habitat management, cavity tree management, woodpecker population monitoring and translocation. It has been the through intelligent decision making and skill in the field from all partners involved in Red-cockaded Woodpecker management in Virginia that has allowed success has come so efficiently. This was the second consecutive year that 10 breeding groups fledged birds. These groups produced a total of 23 fledglings in 2013 following up only slightly behind the 26 young fledged in 2012. Over recent years, the reproductive output of the entire Piney Grove population has increased from growth in the number of breeding groups as well as a greater average number young being fledged per nest. A total of 76 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were identified within the Piney Grove Preserve in 2013. This includes 53 adult birds and the 23 birds that fledged from the 2013 nests. There were 53 adult woodpeckers distributed into 10 groups when going into the breeding season. During the winter survey a total of 57 birds were detected that included 15 of the 23 birds fledged this year. There was movement of birds into two new cluster-sites between summer and winter. One of these sites represents the first natural pioneering event at the Preserve and possibly the only known such event in Virginia for over 25 years. This new site was established by excavation of a natural cavity into a tree located away from other clusters. The cavity has been monitored over the past year through construction but roosting by a male was only discovered during the 2013 winter. This male is joined by a female bird that emanates from an unknown location during forgaing activities. Another new site is an artificial recruitment cluster (C-12) that was occupied by a lone female bird in winter and was being joined by a male from a nearby occupied cluster (C-1). This site was used for a short-term spell by birds in one past winter but vacated by the next spring. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker population continues to set high marks at Piney Grove Preserve for total breeding groups, numbers of individuals, and number of young produced annually. This collective result was only made possible from habitat improvements implemented over time. We have witnessed the population transform from one that required augmentation with translocated individuals for growth just a decade ago to a population that is positively maintaining itself through internal production and recruitment

Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2016 report

The Virginia population of red-cockaded woodpeckers is the northernmost throughout the species range and has been in eminent danger of extinction for more than 30 years. The Piney Grove Preserve represents a nucleus for recovery in the state and the focus of a multi-organizational partnership designed to increase the population to a sustainable level. The partnership has executed a program of aggressive habitat management, cavity-tree management and woodpecker population monitoring and management that has resulted in a tripling of the breeding population since the early 2000s. During the 2016 breeding season, Piney Grove Preserve supported 13 potential breeding groups that produced 16 fledglings. All groups made breeding attempts except for cluster 12. Four of the remaining 12 clusters failed to produce fledglings. The population as a whole had a reproductive rate of 1.2±0.34 (mean±SE). The 12 groups that made breeding attempts had a success rate of 67% (8 of 12). Fledging rate for the 8 productive pairs was 2.0±0.33. Of the 41 eggs produced in 2016, 22 (53.7%) hatched, 20 (48.8%) survived to banding age, and only 16 (39.0%) fledged. Birds that fledged included 11 females and 5 males. Eight of these birds were retained and detected during the winter count. During the calendar year of 2016, 84 individual red-cockaded woodpeckers were identified within Piney Grove preserve including 64 birds produced during previous years and 20 nestlings produced in 2016. Thirty-three birds (39%) were in their fourth year or more and three (3.6%) were in their tenth year or more. Moving into the breeding season there were 64 birds identified within Piney Grove Preserve distributed among 14 clusters. This is the highest number of adults that Piney Grove has ever carried into the breeding season and compares to 60 birds in 2015 and 56 birds in 2014. The number of birds per cluster varied from two to nine with a mean of 4.4+0.57 (mean+SE). Fifty-four birds were detected during the 2016 winter survey. This represents a 20% reduction (54 vs 68) from the winter of 2015 and is the lowest number carried into the winter since 2012. Winter group size ranged from one to eight birds and averaged 3.6+0.47 (mean±SE) birds per group. Birds present include ten of the 16 birds fledged in 2016 and 44 adult birds hatched in previous years. There were 20 adult birds detected during the spring survey that were not detected during winter survey including three breeding males and one breeding female

Investigation of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia: 2014 report

Red-cockaded woodpecker recovery at the Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve has been a monumental achievement. Over the past 11 years, aspects of monitoring and management has worked together to more than triple the number of breeding groups from a modern low of 3 in 2000 to the 14 groups breeding there now. The current level of success has culminated from more than a decade long path of habitat management, cavity tree management, woodpecker population monitoring and translocation. It has been through the intelligent decision making and skill in the field from all partners involved in Red-cockaded Woodpecker management in Virginia that has allowed extraordinary measures of success such as population growth, an increase in the number of pairs breeding, and high annual numbers of young produced. This past year marked another important leap forward in the overall success of the Piney Grove Preserve with the gaining of 3 additional breeding pairs. The new breeding pairs were a result of the pioneering of one pair of birds into a naturally excavated site, two pairs breeding in previously unoccupied artificial recruitment clusters, and one intra-cluster budding event where two pairs of birds produced young within the same cluster. It is the first time that a breeding cluster has been established from a voluntary pioneering event by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers without the help of an artificial recruitment clusters in Virginia since the 1980s. A total of 83 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were identified within the Piney Grove Preserve in 2014. This included 60 birds that were hatched at Piney Grove from previous years and 23 fledglings produced during the 2014 breeding season. There were 56 birds distributed into 13 breeding clusters and one cluster comprised only of males during the breeding season. The total number of adult birds detected in the breeding season set a new high mark by beating the previous year number of 52 birds. One long-term, historic cluster did not breed this year due to loss of females between winter and spring and another breeding cluster failed during the nestling phase and did not renest. In winter, there were 66 birds roosting in 14 different clusters. This includes 15 of the 23 birds fledged in 2014 and 52 adult birds hatched in previous years. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker population continues to set high marks at Piney Grove Preserve for total breeding groups, numbers of individuals, and number of young produced annually. This collective result was only made possible from habitat improvements implemented over time. We have witnessed the population transform from one that required augmentation with translocated individuals to promote growth just a decade ago to a population that is positively maintaining itself through internal production and recruitment