Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) Response to Nest Depredation by an Eastern Rat Snake (Elaphe alleghaniensis)

Abstract

Abstract We report the depredation of a Picoides borealis (Red-cockaded Woodpecker) nest by an Elaphe alleghaniensis (Eastern Rat Snake). Of 38 banded woodpecker groups monitored by video surveillance during 1998–2000, we documented one nest depredation by an Eastern Rat Snake. Woodpecker visitation to the nest area during the depredation event increased substantially compared with pre-depredation nesting behavior. Woodpecker visitation to the nest cavity was minimal during the first six hours after the snake was discovered by the adult woodpeckers. Visitation levels by woodpeckers remained higher than pre-depredation levels while the snake remained in the nest cavity. After the snake's departure from the nest, visitation rates dropped below pre-depredation levels. Woodpeckers continued to visit the cavity during the day and roost in the cavity at night for the remaining seven days of surveillance post-depredation. This same banded woodpecker pair nested in the same cavity in 1999 and fledged 1 female. Ov...