FEEDING HABITAT AND NEST-SITE SELECTION OF BREEDING GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS DENDROCOPOS-MAJOR

We studied within-territory habitat and nest-site selection of breedin g Great Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos major, by means of radio-telem etry, to test the general notion that this woodpecker is able to utili ze a variety of forest habitats. The birds (4 males and 3 females) wer e monitored in the Varaldskogen study area, a managed, boreal forest o f south-central Scandinavia. An 85% home-range estimate averaged 20 ha (range 7-43 ha, n = 4 birds) and breeding pairs lived in separate ter ritories with extensive intersexual overlap of home-ranges. The habita ts being used for feeding varied considerably from dry, open clearcuts to moist old-forest stands. When feeding observations were combined f or all birds (n = 85 observations), older stands and wet vegetation ty pes were preferred, whereas clearcuts and middle-aged stands were used according to their availability. The birds spent about equal time arb oreal and ground feeding. Surface feeding in Scots pine canopies and s wamp vegetation constituted half of the observations. Nest sites (n = 36) were preferentially located in older stands of deciduous and spruc e trees. In general, our findings confirm the notion that Great Spotte d Woodpeckers are flexible in their choice of feeding habitat during b reeding. However, the results indicate a certain preference for older forest stands and swamp vegetation types, which we suggest is linked t o the availability of important insect prey groups.