Abstract
Abstract The objective of this study was to document characteristics of cavities used for breeding by White-backed Woodpeckers Dendrocopos leucotos in Hungary. Twenty-five nest cavities were examined over a period of ten years (2011–2020). Five different tree species were used. The cavities were excavated at a mean height of 4.6 m and 2.2 m standard deviation and ranged from 2 to 8 m. All cavities found were in the main trunks of trees with trunk diameters ranging between 35–55 cm with a mean of 41.6 cm and 5.6 cm standard deviation. A southerly orientation of cavity entrances prevailed with a mean direction of 189±74 clockwise from north (median 180° IQR = 113°). The results suggest that cavity entrance orientation was non-random.
Highlights
The White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos is an Old-World picid, distributed within the Palearctic
A total of twenty-five active White-backed Woodpecker nest cavities were found during the study and their attributes and locations documented
This paper summarises some characteristics of twenty-five nest cavities of White-backed Woodpeckers in Hungary
Summary
The White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos is an Old-World picid, distributed within the Palearctic. Its range covers three eco-climatic regions: the temperate, Mediterranean and boreal zones It occurs from Spain and France (the Pyrenees) in the west, central Italy (the Abruzzi) and the Balkans in the south, Scandinavia in the north and eastwards through Russia and Asia to Japan (Gorman 2014). The south-western Palaearctic lilfordi subspecies is sometimes regarded as a valid phylogenetic species based on molecular species delimitation methods, gene flow analyses and differences in plumage (Pons et al 2021). This taxon has been extensively studied and relevant data is included for comparison in this paper
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