How long..........

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

.........do you think it'd take GSW before they start using a wooded area of new tree's? the reason i ask is because my local patch was planted up around 10 years ago, so most of the tree's are fairly new, although most are now 20ft tall. In the main the tree's are Silver Birch, Beech, Oak and Alder, with some field maple I have once seen a GSW but they are by no means regular. How old are tree's usually before they will start to use them

Thanks

[mrs fish]

If you mean use them for nesting it is dead trees that they normally excavate for nests. They do feed more in woodland than the green wp.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

.........do you think it'd take GSW before they start using a wooded area of new tree's? the reason i ask is because my local patch was planted up around 10 years ago, so most of the tree's are fairly new, although most are now 20ft tall. In the main the tree's are Silver Birch, Beech, Oak and Alder, with some field maple I have once seen a GSW but they are by no means regular. How old are tree's usually before they will start to use them

Thanks

Hmmm tricky, I really don't know - I suppose to use them for foraging the trees will need to be fairly mature before they support insects under the bark, trees with some dead wood presumably support even more. With regard to nesting I suppose they need a trunk wide enough to include the nesting cavity without damaging the trees structure. Come to think about it, again, most of the woodpecker nest holes I have seen are in dead trees or dead limbs. Silver birch die fairly young 40 years ish or a bit younger so I guess that's a relatvely good guidline?

I'm totally guessing here though!!!

[Oscar2006]

How about helping the GSW's along?
Put up some nest boxes made from bits of dead trees.

[JeffH]

Hi Lincs,

As Gill has already said, in terms of using the woodland for nesting I'd say the answer to your question is once the bole of the trees is of sufficient diameter to enable a nest chamber to be bored.

However, I do have to disagree with the suggestion that they prefer dead trees. In my experience, it is the use of immature trees by nesting woodpeckers that actually kills the tree - often with the upperpart of the weakened tree snapping off (just above the nesting hole) in the winter gales.

They do seem to prefer birch, probably because the green wood is relatively soft and easily worked, and there are many examples of youngish trees having been killed and/or snapped off above the nest chamber at Holme Fen NNR (between Huntingdon and Peterborough) - the largest area of birch woodland in England.

I've also seen GSWs nesting in living (and very mature) silver birch trees at Wicken Fen, Woodwalton Fen and Wandlebury woods, near Cambridge.

Their preference for birch is further demonstrated by our local GSWs taking up residence in a birch log nestbox (deliberately placed on a birch tree) in our garden - as reported in the thread 'Competition in the woodpecker housing market'. By the way, the female has now been in there almost continually for two days/nights

Jeff

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Thanks for the replies guys i'm a little suprised that we don't have regular GSW around, as there are a few(5/6) very mature and large tree's that i thought they would visit. Maybe its just a case that a young woodpecker will need to come along and use it as his territory. I have made a woodpecker nestbox but have yet to put it up. Waht sort of height are your nestboxes at Jeff?

John

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

What sort of height are your nestboxes at Jeff?

John

John, I currently have 12 nestboxes around the garden at heights varying from about 5 to 18 feet.

Of my 5 lower height boxes (approx 5 - 8 feet), 3 have hole fronts - 2 of these are at about 6 feet high and have been used regularly by Blue Tits and have been left untouched by the Woodpeckers. The other is a newly erected (last Autumn) birch log box currently occupied by our resident female GSW - she's currently in there for her 3rd successive night This one is at about 8 feet high. I also have 2 open-fronted boxes at 5 - 6 feet high and one of these has been used by Robins. The other has so far not been used, though is also quite new.

I have a further 5 boxes at about 10 - 15 feet high. 3 of these have hole fronts and two have been used regularly by Great Tits - one was new last year. The other 2 have open fronts and neither has been used, though Starlings have shown some interest in them. 2 of the hole front boxes at this height have had their holes slightly enlarged by Woodpeckers during the late Autumn/Winter.

My other two boxes are at about 16 - 18 feet high. Both have hole fronts and these are the two in which the Green and GS Woodpeckers showed the most interest during their recent hole enlarging campaign, with the holes on both having been made big enough for the GSWs to access. Incidentally, I plan to repair 3 of the damaged boxes with metal hole plates.

As to suitable heights for Woodpecker boxes, the 'Popular Handbook of British Birds' says GSWs "...rarely nest less than 10 - 12 feet from the ground and usually considerably higher" and I've certainly seen GSWs in mature birch trees nesting in holes as high as 30 - 40 feet.

However, my 20-year old nest box bible ("Nest Boxes for the Birds of Britain and Europe") gives a suggested height for a GSW box of only 2 - 4 metres above ground

So, you pays your money and takes your choice! But given that our resident female seems to have settled on a box at about 8 feet above ground I'd tend to regard that as a minimum and would probably place a specially made GSW box at somewhere between 10 - 18 feet.

I'm sorry that this answer is much longer than I intended and even more sorry that after all that it doesn't give you a definitive answer

Jeff

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Thanks for the reply Jeff i think the morale is, the higher the better