%0 Journal Article %J The Wilson Bulletin %D 1986 %T Winter population dynamics of three species of mast-eating birds in the eastern United States %A Smith, K.G. %K bird %K population %X

All three species store and consume mast. Red-headed Woodpecker populations were most variable and Blue Jay populations were more variable than those of Black-capped Chickadees. Year-to- year comparisons show that Red-headed Woodpeckers are relatively nomadic in winter; that Blue Jays make movements between New England and the Mid-Atlantic coast with some regularity; and that Black-capped Chickadees may make relatively short population movements between central and southern New England. Movements of the 3 species were independent of mean January temperatures at the count areas examined. Results presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that increased dependence on mast as a winter food source is correlated with increased variability in winter population dynamics. In particular, the nearly periodic nature of the east-west shift of Red-headed Woodpecker high counts among years is strikingly similar to the periodic pattern of boreal seed-eating birds discovered by Bok asnd Lepthien (1976a)

%B The Wilson Bulletin %V 98 %P 407 -418 %G eng %M KNZ00127 %R http://www.jstor.org/stable/4162267