ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES in rocky mountain coniferous ...

The only clear relationships evident in these comparisons are: 1) when consid-
ering all woodpecC:er species together, feeding in shelterwood units and uncut por-
tions of group selection units was substantial although less than in control (uncut)
units. There was little feeding activity in the clearcut units. 2) Wood fiber
utilization levels influenced woodpecker feeding time only in shelterwood units.
"Near complete" utilization seemed to reduce woodpecker feeding opportunities to a
much greater degree than the other 3 less intense levels. 3) A much longer term
study will be needed if the relat.ionships between bird feeding opportunities and
residue utilization levels are to be quantified in a manner useful in predicting
different consequences of the various level s.
Each woodpecker species has different feeding habits. The analysis of total
tvoodpecker feeding time may obscure feeding site differences between species. The
only species recorded feeding in the cl earcut area was the Ye1 low-be1 1 ied Sapsucker
(table 8), which fed upon paper birch left within the unit. Common Flickers often
were seen feeding in clearcuts outside the study area; they were not seen in the
1974 clearcuts. They fed within uncut stands, although always within several hundred
feet of a cutting edge. Conner and Crawford (1974) recorded flicker feeding during
30% of 60 hours sampling time in a 5-year old clearcut in Virginia.
TABLE 8. Percent of sampling time that woodpecker species were observed feeding in
different treatment units, lower and higher units combined.
Treatment Unit All units
Species Control Uncut Islands Cut Shelterwood Clearcut Combined
Yellow-bell ied Sapsucker 4.0 0.7 0.1 1.9 0.1 1.3
Pi 1 eated Woodpecker