Orientation of entrances to woodpecker nest cavities

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Conner, Richard N.

Source:

Auk, American Ornithologists' Union, Volume 92, Issue 2, p.371-374 (1975)

Call Number:

A75CON02IDUS

URL:

https://sora.unm.edu/node/22680

Keywords:

Centurus carolinus, Colapies auratus, Common Flicker, Dendrocopos pubescens, Dendrocopos villosus, Downy Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, Hairy Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker

Abstract:

During 1972 and 1973 I located 78 nest trees of the Red-headed, Red-bellied, Hairy, Pileated, and Downy (Dendrocopos pubescens) Woodpeckers and Common Flicker (Colapies auratus) within a 40-mile radius of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. I measured nest trees to determine whether the nest openings pointed above or below the horizontal. None of the measured cavity entrances was in a vertical trunk; 77 nests opened on an angle below the horizontal - i.e. faced downward. Only one cavity entrance, that of a Red-bellied Woodpecker, faced slightly upward. One-way analysis of variance failed to detect a significant difference in angles of openings among species. More than twice as many nest cavities opened in a northeasterly direction, from north-northwest to south-southeast than southwesterly. My evidence suggests that the slope of the trunk appears to be the most important factor in nest orientation.