Provisioning of Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus) Nestlings with Vertebrate Prey

• DOI: 10.1676/05-014.1
• Publication Date: 2006-07-18T17:29:53Z
• Authors: Valeria S. Ojeda; M. Laura Chazarreta
• Keywords: Woodpecker

During the 2003–2004 and 2004– 2005 nesting seasons, we studied parental behavior at seven Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus) nests in Argentine Patagonia. Food items delivered to nestlings included wood-boring larvae (57.6%), arachnids (13.1%), vertebrates (4.6%, including a bat, lizards, avian eggs nestlings). Less frequent were adult insects, caterpillars, pupae. Small, unidentified invertebrate prey made up 19.8% of observations. Males most large (wood-boring vertebrates; 61.7%), while females brought small (arachnids small, invertebrates; 79.6%), suggesting differences foraging strategies between sexes. This is first published account Woodpeckers provisioning with vertebrates. The frequency predation on outside breeding seasons unknown.