Abstract

PROTTI-SANCHEZ, Francesca  and  SANDOVAL, Luis. Changes in nesting sites abundance and their use by woodpeckers along an urban gradient: a ten-year comparison. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2019, vol.67, n.2, pp.274-281. ISSN 0034-7744.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v67i2supl.37241.

Woodpeckers nesting substrate abundance may be reduced by urban expansion, negatively affecting their reproduction. Long-term studies in the tropics are rare but valuable to estimate how urban development has affected ecological communities. We present a ten-year comparison on nesting substrate abundance and their use by Melanerpes rubricapillus and M. chrysauchen woodpeckers along an urban gradient in Golfito, Costa Rica; which include three habitats and three substrates (snags, palms, and posts). Conditions remained unchanged in non-urban areas. In semi-urban areas, snag, posts, and nests on them, have decreased. In urban areas, despite snags and posts remaining constant, their use also decreased. In semi-urban and urban areas, palms and palm nests increased. This long term comparison indicates that woodpeckers took advantage of the increased presence of ornamental palms in gardens.

Keywords : Costa Rica; Golfito; Melanerpes chrysauchen; Melanerpes rubricapillus; nests; snags.

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