Woodpeckers of the family Picidae in floodplain and oak forests of the Uzh river valley in the Zakarpattia province
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24144/1998-6475.2021.50-51.13-20Keywords:
woodpeckers, species status, species distribution, dead wood, forests, Uzh river valley, Zakarpattia.Abstract
We conducted our research of woodpeckers of the family Picidae in oak and floodplain forests of the Uzh river valley in the Zakarpattia province of Ukraine in 1994-1999 and 2016-2020. The results of the study show that the status and distribution of some species of woodpeckers has changed significantly over the last century. Two species - white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos Bechstein, 1802) and green woodpecker (Picus viridis Linnaeus, 1758), which were common and numerous species in the forests of the the Uzh river valley in the early twentieth century, now are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor Linnaeus, 1758) and the Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla Linnaeus, 1758) became rare as well. Instead, the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius Linnaeus, 1758), which, in the early twentieth century, was found mainly in coniferous forests and occurred in the foothill and plain deciduous forests of Zakarpattia only for wintering, occurs now in the foothill beech and oak forests of the Uzh river valley all year round. The Syrian woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus Hemprich et Ehrenberg, 1833) became a new species for the avifauna of Zakarpattia. This Mediterranean species came to us from the Balkans in the early 1950-ths and inhabited the transformed landscapes: agrocenoses and human settlements. It is practically not found in natural forests and does not require protection measures. The status of only three species of woodpeckers remained unchanged - great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major Linnaeus, 1758), middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius Linnaeus, 1758) and greyheaded woodpecker (Picus canus Gmelin, 1788). These species are not threatened: they are quite flexible in the choice of habitat and are found both in natural forests and in gardens, parks, squares of settlements. Most other woodpecker species are obviously dependent on the presence of old forests and dead wood in them, but this issue requires further research.
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