Detailed information is available by writing Box 2980, Lacombe, Alberta 
     
     TOC 150. Come and join us for our combined birthday, to enjoy our river and,to 
     
     experience our carefully guarded but continually besieged wilderness. But, book 
     
     early, the conference dates are July 4th to 7th, just before the Calgary 
     
     Stampede. You could even enjoy both! 
     
    
   
   
    
     PILEATED HOODPECKER - AN UPDATE by Dwayne L. Sabine 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Pileated Woodpecker (Dr oco us pileatus), once a year-around resident 
     
     of Prince Edward Island, was apparent y extirpated from the Island sometime in 
     
     the last century (Godfrey, 1954). The clearing of much of the Island for 
     
     agriculture and the harvesting of most of the remaining timberland for lumber 
     
     and firewood undoubtedly destroyed much of the former habitat of this species. 
     
     However, recent trends in land use have caused the proportion of wooded land on 
     
     Prince Edward Island to increase as former farmlands revert back to forest. 
     
     This increase has perhaps allowed Pileated Hoodpeckers to regain a position in 
     
     the bird community of the Island. 
     
    

    
     In issue number 98 of the Island Naturalist, Geoff Hogan discussed recent 
     
     evidence that Pileated Hoodpeckers are again present on P.E.I. Since that time, 
     
     additional information suggesting the occurrence of this species has surfaced 
     
     to support this. Evidence in the form of borings has turned up in scattered 
     
     locations throughout the Island. In addition, there have been several sightings 
     
     of the actual birds reported, all in Kings County (Iris, Harmony Junction, and 
     
     Fortune River) with the exception of one bird sighted near O'Leary in Prince 
     
     County. 
     
    

    
     Although Pileated Noodpeckers are definitely once again present of the 
     
     Island, they remain extremely uncommon. During the past two summers I have been 
     
     completing bird surveys throughout Prince Edward Island and, despite being in 
     
     the woods almost every day for five months, I have seen only one bird of this 
     
     species. This sighting occurred on the 20th of June, 1990 when I observed a 
     
     Pileated Woodpecker fly across a small valley near Iris, Kings County. 
     
     Interestingly enough, fresh borings indicative of this species were reported to 
     
     Rosemary Curley last month from nearby Mount Vernon. My fieldwork, as well as 
     
     that of Scott Makepeace during the course of similar work, has revealed the 
     
     distinctive borings of Pileated woodpeckers at several locations across the 
     
     Island including Strathgartney, Springton, and a number of locations in the 
     
     Montague River watershed. However, the most tantalizing evidence to date that 
     
     these birds do breed here was found in the Townsend Hoodlot,.an old growth 
     
     hardwood stand near Harmony Junction in Kings County. In the Spring of 1988, 
     
     Stephen Farmer, Doug Kelly, and Mel Hilson, closely observed a pair of Pileated 
     
     Hoodpeckers in the woodlot. A search by myself in July, 1989 revealed no birds, 
     
     but many fresh borings were present. Regrettably, another search in June, 1990 
     
     turned up no recent signs of these birds in this woodlot. 
     
    

    
     Townsend Hoodlot would seem to offer prime nesting habitat for Pileated 
     
     Woodpeckers. Bent (1964) describes the average height on 33 nests in his 
     
     records to be 45 feet, with the lowest nest situated 15 feet above the ground. 
     
     The point where the nest hole was drilled ordinarily measured 15 to 20 inches 
     
     in diameter. Although trees of these dimensions would be quite uncommon in most 
     
     of Prince Edward Island, they are abundant in Townsend woodlot. Another 
     
     apparent advantage of the woodlot is that it is part of a much larger 
     
     continuous area of forest. Pileated Hoodpeckers seem to prefer these large 
     
     tracts of unbroken forest, although they will sometimes utilize other areas.