RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER HOME RANGE USE AND MACROHABITAT SELECTION IN A LOBLOLLY-SHORTLEAF PINE FOREST

Abstract We examined annual and seasonal home ranges of 41 Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) groups from 1997 to 1999 in a Mississippi loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (P. echinata) pine forest. Adaptive kernel annual home-range estimates (x = 43.1 ± 6.3 ha) were more conservative than maximum convex polygon estimates (x = 58.4 ± 4.5 ha). Mean non-nesting season home ranges were 15–20 ha greater than nesting season home ranges. Home ranges were smaller during nesting and increased during the post-fledging period. Compositional analysis revealed that Red-cockaded Woodpeckers selected habitats disproportionate to their availability annually and seasonally. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers selected pine sawtimber, pine poletimber, pine regeneration, and hardwood sawtimber habitats in that order. Home range appears to be a factor of landscape composition and inversely related to habitat quality.