'Mega-fires' may be too extreme even for a bird that loves fire

AUGUST 6, 2019

by American Ornithological Society

Fire is a natural part of western forests, but the changing nature of fire in many parts of North America may pose challenges for birds. One bird in particular, the Black-backed Woodpecker, specializes in using recently-burned forests in western North America, but like humans looking for a new family home, it's picky about exactly where it settles. New research published in The Condor: Ornithological Applications suggests that these birds actually prefer to nest near the edges of burned patches—and these edges are getting harder to find as wildfires have become bigger and more severe.

Andrew Stillman, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut, along with colleagues from The Institute for Bird Populations and the U.S. Forest Service, looked at nest site selection and nest success of Black-backed Woodpeckers in burned forests of northern California. Over a period of eight years, the researchers located and monitored more than one hundred nests while measuring nest site characteristics across multiple spatial scales. The birds in the study strongly preferred to nest in severely burned stands that had lots of dead trees. But the birds chose to place their nests near the edges of these high-severity burned patches, typically within 500 meters of a patch with live trees.

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Rim Fire Logging May Endanger Rare Woodpecker

A plan by the U.S. Forest Service to allow "salvage" logging of almost 30,000 acres of forest burned in 2013's Rim Fire poses an unacceptable risk to a rare woodpecker that relies on habitat created by forest fires.

That's according to a new report by the Center For Biological Diversity (CBD) and the John Muir Project (JMP) detailing the importance of fires to the health of Sierra Nevada forests, as well as the animals and plants that call those forests home.

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Protection considered for bird that needs wildfire

By JEFF BARNARD AP Environmental Writer

Posted:   04/08/2013 03:12:04 PM PDT

Updated:   04/08/2013 06:27:26 PM PDT

GRANTS PASS, Ore.—A woodpecker that depends on intense wildfires for the standing dead trees where it feeds on insects is being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it will take a closer look at the black-backed woodpecker. A decision is due in a year but could take longer due to budget cuts.

Fish and Wildlife is considering two populations of the woodpecker—one inhabiting the Sierras of California and eastern Cascade Range of Oregon, and another in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Another Northern Rockies population is not under consideration.

The agency said conservation groups that petitioned to protect the birds presented substantial scientific information that they were suffering a loss of habitat because of fire suppression, salvage logging that removes fire-killed trees, and thinning to reduce the intensity of wildfires.

The decision is giving conservation groups hope the bird can force changes in national wildfire policy the same way the northern spotted owl overhauled the idea of logging old-growth forests.

Chad Hanson, staff ecologist of the John Muir Project of the Earth Island Institute, said the woodpecker has already figured in lawsuits to stop salvage logging.

"We hope as a result of this, the Forest Service will in fact not only pay more attention to species like this, but do a proactive job of educating people that when fire happens, it is not a bad thing, wildlife rely upon it," Hanson said. "These notions of catastrophic wildfire are really just politics and ignorance, and reflect outdated thinking."

Forest Service spokesman Larry Chambers said the agency's wildfire policy was not changing because the bird was not yet listed as a threatened or endangered species. He added that the agency already took "science-based actions to protect its habitat."

The agency has also said budget cuts this year will force it to let more fires burn—a prospect Hanson said would benefit the woodpecker and a broad range of species.

Continued:  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22981392/protection-considered-bird-that-needs-wildfire