1. Food Preferences of Red-Headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpies
erythrocephalus) and the Relationship with Season Change
Crystal Sauder1 1 Student, Dept. Biological Sciences, Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL
Choose one template and delete the other. Template 2. This template focuses more on figures and results and keeps methods and introduction very brief.
Introduction
Of the 18,000 red-headed woodpecker photos on Macaulay, there were 596 photos of birds with something in their beaks, and 435 (72.99%) of those were identified.
Plant material made up a variety of a red-headed woodpeckers diet, around 53% total. There were 18 different types of animal matter observed being eaten (Fig. 1 & 2).
There is a decrease in plant matter being eaten during the warmer months, with an increase in animal matter (Fig. 3).
By knowing about how their food preferences change, and the importance of both plant and animal matter in their diet at different times of the year, scientists are able to use the data to inform decisions about habitat protection.
The collection of data from 42 states/provinces across North America provides an overall view of red-headed woodpeckers diets. Because of this large geographical range, conservationists around North America will be able to adopt it in their conservation efforts.
Discussion
Results: Food preference
Red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) have a wide habitat range in North America, from southern Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico and from Montana to Delaware1. They prefer to live in open woodlands with a wide variety of dead, or dying, trees to nest and cache food in2-3. Red-headed woodpeckers were once common and easy to find, but now their populations are declining due to habitat loss. A mixture of animal mater and plant matter make up their diets.
Plant matter makes up a majority of red-headed woodpecker diets. There were 20 different categories of food that were recorded.
Hemiptera was the favorite animal matter consumed. Animal matter makes up 19.13% of data collected.
Here, we explore if red-headed woodpeckers have a preference when it comes to a food source, and how that changes due to the seasons changing.
Research Hypothesis
The food preferences of red-headed woodpeckers will go from animal matter to plant matter as the seasons change.
Figure 1. Overall food preference
Figure 2. Animal food preference
Results: Diet change throughout the year
Methods
Macaulay.org, a birding website ran by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was used to gather photos of red-headed woodpeckers across North America.
There were over 18,000 photos of red-headed woodpeckers uploaded onto the website at the time of the study. Audio recordings and birds eating at bird feeders were excluded from the study.
A screenshot was taken of the photo containing a red-headed woodpecker eating something. Each screenshot included the photographer’s name, the location, and the date observed.
All images were sorted into different groups of food items found. A presence-absence spreadsheet was created to analyze the data collected.
There is a significant decrease in plant matter during the spring/summer months
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Dr. Rosenberger for his expertise when it came to identifying some of the photographs in this study. Thank you to Dr. Long for his guidance and help throughout the semester. This project would not have as successful as it was without the guidance and intuition from Dr. Rosenberger and Dr. Long
Contact Information
Crystal Sauder:
Dr. Derek Rosenberger:
Dr. Greg Long:
References
1Henshaw, H.W. (1914). Birds of town and country. National Geographic Magazine, 25(5),
2Frei, B., Fyles, J. W., Nocera, J. J., & Tregenza, T. (2013). Maladaptive habitat use of a North American woodpecker in population decline. Ethology, 119(5), doi: /eth.12074
3https://
Figure 3. Plant vs. animal
matter throughout year