Census of two target species of woodpeckers completed

The census of three-toed and white-backed woodpeckers was conducted at 400 points between March and May 2015. In Kočevje area census was mostly carried out by project partner ZGS. In the area of Novo Mesto this was done by the project partner ZRSVN. Both were assisted by DOPPS – Bird Life Slovenia as a subcontractor.

We registered the presence of over thirty pairs of white-backed woodpeckers and just under thirty pairs of three-toed woodpeckers. During the field survey we mostly registered females which defended their territory by drumming. At most of the locations the birds were seen, at some of the locations they were only heard. Spontaneous drumming was rarely observed, birds mostly responded to our playback of species specific territorial drumming.

Based on collected results ZGS will prepare a report which will enable better spatial positioning of concrete conservation actions of projekt LifeKočevsko (C actions).

In the next two weeks we will conduct a search of occupied nest holes of both woodpecker species. We will write more about our success rate and about the amount of luck needed in our next news article.