PLENTY magazine Spring 2021 | Page 18

by domestic cats in decimating woodpecker chicks ’ ability to survive fledging . As if that isn ’ t enough threat , their nesting cavities are being overrun by aggressive European starlings , also introduced by human settlers . It is nearly impossible to control the starling problem , or the cat problem , and difficult at best to mitigate issues around forest fragmentation — watch how long developers laugh when you mention your concerns for wildlife as a reason to curb urban sprawl . It is amazing woodpeckers have survived human expansion this long .
Leaving dead trees to stand seems like it would be a pretty easy solution to that part of the woodpecker ’ s diminishing habitat problem , right ? Less work all around ! Because without those dead trees , or snags , woodpeckers cannot create cavities that would house their broods . This doesn ’ t just effect woodpeckers , but also the populations of secondary cavity dwellers who move in those spaces after the woodpeckers have fledged , like the threatened eastern bluebird , for example .
Mammals use woodpecker cavities for shelter as
Above , left to right : hairy woodpecker , downy woodpecker , red-bellied woodpecker ; below : red-headed woodpecker yellow-bellied sapsucker , northern flicker ; opposite page : pileated woodpecker .
well , such as flying squirrels . And consider the devastation of our own food chain if we had no empty tree cavities for wild bees to swarm and hive . Without the woodpecker ’ s excavation into dead trees , other species would perish , and without the dead trees the woodpeckers would perish . Obviously the answer is to leave the dead trees standing . Simple . Easy peasy .
But hold on ! Turns out we humans don ’ t like the look of dead trees . At first glance , they certainly don ’ t seem necessary , or even conducive to the survival of the ecosystem . But on second glance , we see the eternal ebb and flow of natural composition and decomposition . We can ’ t have one without the other . If woodpeckers in the region are to survive , or even thrive , a push must be made to educate our communities on the essential role dead trees play . By exten-
18 plenty I Spring sowing 2021