Spotlight on Wildlife Trees and Rare Woodpeckers of the South Okanagan-Similkameen

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While all trees might be used by wildlife, not all trees are “wildlife trees.” A wildlife tree is a standing tree (alive or dead) in a decaying state that provides valuable habitat for many species. In B.C., the wildlife trees become prime real estate for many species of birds, particularly woodpeckers.

What Makes a Tree a Wildlife Tree?

A wildlife tree is any standing dead of living tree with special characteristics that provide important habitat for wildlife. These characteristics include large (sometimes hollow) trunks, large branches, deformed and broken tops, internal decay and sloughing or loose bark. Wildlife trees are important because over ninety different plants and animals in British Columbia’s forests need them for habitat.

In the South Okanagan-Similkameen, some examples of tree species that commonly make high value wildlife trees are Ponderosa Pine, Douglas-fir, Western Larch, Black Cottonwood and Trembling Aspen.

How are Wildlife Trees Created?

Trees do not simply die of old age, but are killed by insect attack, disease, fire, lightning, lack of light or poor growing conditions. The decay of standing live of dead trees may start from the centre of the tree or from the outside, in the bark. These different types of decay can provide different types of habitat for wildlife. Trees rotting in the centre may be hollowed out and used for nesting while rotting bark might provide food.

What are the Threats to Wildlife Trees?

Wildlife trees are becoming increasingly scarce as old forests are harvested for forest products or lands are cleared for agriculture and other types of development. In settled areas, wildlife trees are commonly felled because of liability concerns and a general lack of awareness that these trees have significant wildlife values.

Who Uses Wildlife Trees?

Animals that depend on wildlife trees for habitat may be divided into three groups: primary cavity excavators, secondary cavity users and open nesters.  Primary cavity excavators, such as woodpeckers and some species of nuthatches and chickadees excavate their own cavities. Secondary cavity users are unable to excavate their own cavities and rely on cavities excavated by primary cavity excavators and on naturally occurring cavities. This group includes some of the owls, swallows, bluebirds and ducks, as well as mammals like marten, raccoons, squirrels and black bear. Open nesters are birds that build large, heavy nests on the tops or in the crooks of large wildlife trees. Ideal nesting conditions for birds like the Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Bald Eagle and large hawks and owls are created when trees are topped or broken from strong winds or from lightning strikes.

What are Woodpeckers?

Woodpeckers are birds belonging to the order known as Piciformes, in the family Picidae. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia and New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known to live in treeless areas such as rocky hillsides and deserts.
Although male and female woodpeckers tend to look alike, males commonly have more prominent red or yellow head markings than females.Woodpeckers have strong bills for drilling and drumming on trees and long sticky tongues for extracting food. The bill’s chisel-like tip is kept sharp by the pecking action in birds that regularly use it on wood.
Woodpeckers possess zygodactyl feet which consist of four toes, the first and the fourth facing frontward and the second and third facing back. This type of foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Members of this family can walk vertically up a tree trunk, which is beneficial for activities such as foraging for food or nest excavation.
Woodpeckers are referred to as “keystone” species because of their role in creating habitat suitable for other forest wildlife, namely the many secondary cavity users.

PROFILE: Williamson’s Sapsucker
Latin Name: Sphyrapicus thyroideus
Federally listed as Endangered

Characteristics: Williamson’s sapsucker males have a black head, body and breast; narrow white stripes on the head; a red chin and throat; yellow belly; and a white rump and large white wing patch. Females have a brown head and wings with white bars; large dark patch on the breast, a white rump and a variably yellow belly. Calls include the “cheeur” call and the scold (sounds like a soft “churrr") given near the nest or sap trees. Tapping consists of a series of irregular, broken rhythm blows. Williamson’s sapsuckers feed on sap and tree cambium during the pre-nesting period and mainly carpenter ants after young hatch.

Habitat and Distribution: Williamson’s Sapsucker has the most restricted distribution and lowest abundance of the four species of sapsuckers occurring in British Columbia. The bulk of its provincial range is located in the South Okanagan. This sapsucker forages in mature forests at moderately high elevations of 850-1500m. While most abundant in Western Larch forests, Williamson’s Sapsucker will also use Douglas-fir, Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine and aspen stands.

Threats: Williamson’s Sapsucker is Endangered in Canada due to its restricted range, low population size, dependency on mature forests and the threat of habitat loss. Approximately 300 – 500 pairs breed in BC’s Southern Interior.

PROFILE: Lewis’ Woodpecker
Latin Name: Melanerpes lewis
Federally listed as Special Concern
Red-listed in BC

Characteristics: Lewis’ Woodpecker is unique among the woodpeckers with a glossy greenish-black head, back, wings and tail; rosy belly; grey collar and breast; and red face. It has grey feet and legs, black bill and dark coloured eyes. Body length is 22 cm with a wingspan of 45 cm. This particular woodpecker species is a quiet bird, except for an occasional harsh “churr” call. Its flight pattern is distinctive from other woodpeckers. Lewis’ Woodpeckers fly slow and direct, similar to crows or jays, with long glides. Insects such as ants, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, tent caterpillars, mayflies, and wild berries are the main food for Lewis’s Woodpecker in the summer, with ripe domestic fruit and nuts consumed in the fall and winter. Unlike other woodpeckers, this species does not bore for insects but will flycatch and glean insects from tree branches or tree trunks; it also drops from perch to capture insects on the ground.

Habitat and Distribution: In British Columbia, Lewis’ Woodpecker is limited to the drier parts of the Southern Interior from the Chilcotin River to the East Kootenays. It is more abundant in the Okanagan Valley than in any other part of British Columbia. Lewis’ Woodpecker prefers open ponderosa pine forests especially near water or within recently burned areas. Within this habitat, bushy areas are required for foraging and large wildlife trees are needed for nesting. It may also nest in live cottonwood trees, particularly when near ponderosa pine stands.  It nests in self-excavated tree cavities, abandoned holes or natural cavities.

Threats: Federally, the Lewis’s Woodpecker is considered a species of Special Concern due to its small and locally distributed populations, restricted range, loss and vulnerability of habitat, and historical extirpation of coastal populations. It is estimated that there are fewer than 1000 in the province. Widespread clearing of ponderosa pine forests and cottonwood stands is likely responsible for much of the species decline in this century.

PROFILE: White-headed Woodpeckers
Latin Name: Picoides albolarvatus
Federally listed as Endangered
Red-listed in BC

Characteristics: White-headed Woodpeckers are one of the most distinctive and yet elusive local woodpeckers.  Their white head and throat, and white wing patches sharply contrast with their black bodies. Black bodied woodpecker with white wing patches and a distinctive white head (the only local woodpecker with a white head). Males have a flash of red on the back of the head. Their body length is 24 cm. Their call sounds like “chik-a-chik, chik-a-chik”. The White-headed Woodpecker’s diet consists predominately of pine seeds. Insects are consumed only during nesting. Insect food includes ants, wood-boring beetles, spiders and fly larvae.

Habitat and Distribution: In Canada, this woodpecker is known to breed only in the southern Okanagan Valley as far north as Naramata. White-headed Woodpeckers prefer open park-like mature old Ponderosa Pine forests with large-diameter decaying trees for both nesting and roosting, and abundant seed cones for food.

Threats

White-headed Woodpeckers are considered Federally Endangered due to small population size, restricted range, a dependency on Ponderosa Pine seeds, and loss and degradation of habitat. More than fifty years of selective logging of large Ponderosa Pine trees and fire suppression have resulted in dramatic habitat changes. Logging has removed the large pines and fire suppression has allowed the establishment of dense stands of immature pine as well as the more shade tolerant Douglas-fir. The result is increased fuel loads that increase the potential for more severe fires, destroying any remaining mature trees and the large wildlife trees. With the increase in density of immature trees comes increased competition for nutrients, fewer pine seeds, few or no dead standing trees, and a gradual change from a climax forest dominated by Ponderosa Pine to one dominated by Douglas-fir. Mature and old growth forests have also been lost to urban and agricultural development. Even current selective logging practices require the falling of some wildlife trees for safety reasons. Wildlife trees are also cut for firewood, despite permit regulations restricting their cutting.

Who are the Woodpeckers of the South Okanagan-Similkameen

1. Lewis’s Woodpecker
2. Red-naped Sapsucker
3. Williamson’s Sapsucker
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. Hairy Woodpecker
6. White-headed Woodpecker
7. American Three-toed Woodpecker
8. Black-backed Woodpecker
9. Northern Flicker
10. Pileated Woodpecker

What you can do to protect wildlife trees and the woodpeckers and other wildlife that depend on them:

Allow wildlife trees to remain on your property unless they pose a safety threat. Remove only unsafe branches and tops with the help of a professional arborist or tree service.

Consider placing stewardship conservation agreements or covenants on your land to protect wildlife tree patches or important wildlife habitat.

Do not use wildlife trees for firewood.

Encourage your local government to incorporate wildlife tree protection into bylaws, zoning and Official Community Plans.

Learn more about wildlife trees. Check out the WiTS website at http://www.wildlifetree.org

Become involved with the Wildlife Tree Stewardship Program (WiTS)… Help identify wildlife trees and monitor nests in the Okanagan-Similkameen. Contact for more information.

Report sightings of these rare woodpeckers to Bird Studies Canada (250-496-4049) or Partners in Flight BC/Yukon (250-490-8286)