Graduation Date
Spring 2025
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Wildlife
Committee Chair Name
Frank Fogarty
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Ho Yi Wan
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Micaela Szykman Gunther
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Lewis's woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis, Habitat use, Home range, Fall migration, Wildfire, Eastern Oregon
Subject Categories
Wildlife
Abstract
Lewis’s woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis), a burn specialist, is experiencing range-wide population declines despite increasing fire activity in the western U.S. The White River Wildlife Area in Oregon hosts the state's only year-round population, raising questions about their breeding, habitat use, and migration. In summer 2024, we tracked nine woodpeckers using telemetry to estimate home range size and overlap. Full home ranges averaged 428 ha, with 66 ha core areas, and showed evidence of growing after nesting. Home ranges overlapped extensively (Full: 91 ± 13%; Core: 63 ± 29%), though individuals had distinct areas of intense use. Males had larger home ranges than females when accounting for body size, and ranges increased in size when they contained low-severity burn, low or high snag density, and open or high post-fire canopy cover. A resource selection function revealed woodpeckers favored areas with high snag density, moderate fire severity, and low post-fire canopy cover while avoiding low snag density and high canopy cover. Using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, we documented the fall migration of all individuals with birds last detected in southern Oregon or central California in September. Studying this sensitive species’ spatial activity patterns, habitat use, and migration fills critical biological gaps, supporting more accurate population estimates, highlighting important breeding habitat components for land managers, and starting efforts to further understand their migratory patterns in the region.
Citation Style
Journal of Wildlife Management
Recommended Citation
Piper, Cameron, "Home range, habitat Use, and fall migration of Lewis’s woodpeckers in the Eastern Cascade Range, Oregon" (2025). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2302.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2302