Anidación y desarrollo temprano de Melanerpes rubricapillus en su nuevo areal de distribución

Nesting and early development of Melanerpes rubricapillus in its novel areal distribution

Abstract

Avian range expansion is an ideal system to study individuals’ adjustment to the environment and its potential effect on the main reproductive events during the life cycle. We conducted systematic monitoring of the Red-crowned Woodpecker to describe main events during the reproductive cycle by closely following its activity inside and outside the nesting cavity. Two additional tree species were used by the Red-crowned Woodpecker to excavate nests. Two out four nesting-couples were able to produce viable offspring, and one couple laid three eggs but one viable. In this nest the early development of the chick resembles that of other woodpeckers; however, the time to exodus of the juvenile is longer than in other syntopic woodpeckers. In the area of study, a nesting-couple of Red-crowned Woodpecker can excavate more accessory cavities in one tree than other woodpecker species. Some of the cavities high up in trees were subject of excavation by a larger usurper, somewhat similar to previously documented phenomena among woodpeckers in the same locality. Collectively, the effectiveness of the Red-crowned Woodpecker in its new distributional range may be mediated by challenges outside the nest to mitigate the risk of cavity usurpation or its plasticity to use artificial roosting as compared to the highly conserved events inside the nesting cavity.