We have very few dead snags in standing water in northern Licking and southern Knox counties, but we do have a lot of snags, and a lot of red-headed woodpeckers. The most important element is clearly the snags; perhaps the birds were associated with water because standing water and wetlands often have snags. I'm no expert on that question. I only know what I see, and I see a lot of red-headed woodpeckers. Margaret Bowman Licking Co., OH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 8:32 AM Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Red-headed Woodpecker observation >I believe Regina is correct in her observation about water not being a > necessity for Red-headed Woodpeckers. In Northeast Ohio they are closely > tied to wooded swamp and moist woodlands with Red Oaks as the predominate > tree species. The woodpecker's abundance depends on the success of the > acorn > crop. In good years they will reside in these woodlands all winter and > nest > there the following spring. They can be common in Trumbull County > following > a good acorn crop and absent for a year following a poor crop. As > elsewhere, > they do inhabit marshy areas with standing dead trees. I have seen them > utilizing these areas much like flycatchers do- and Red-headeds are > surprisingly good at "flycatching", even catching large dragonflies in > flight. > > Dave Hochadel > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of > Regina > Schieltz > Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 10:39 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Red-headed Woodpecker observation > > My observations in Darke County tell me that there are more Red-headed > Woodpeckers than I always thought. I find them in woods were there are > dead > trees not necessarily around water. Many places where they have been > easy > to find like along lakes, etc. have had trees that have died due to > wetlands > being created and water levels raised in lakes. I wonder if they really > need to be along water or just need the trees to have the right deadness? > I often see them flying from a woods across a county road to feed in a > corn > field. In fact, two years ago, we found one dead along the road where we > had seen one flying from the neighbor's woods across the road to our corn > field. We figured it had been hit by a vehicle. > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3024 - Release Date: 07/23/10 > 14:36:00 > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]