Occurrence and Feeding Ecology of the Common Flicker on Grand Cayman Island
Condor, 81:370375 @I The Cooper Ornithological Society 1979 OCCURRENCE AND FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE COMMON FLICKER ON GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND ALEXANDER CRUZ AND DAVID W. JOHNSTON The Common Flicker (CoZaptes auratus) is with mangrove and buttonwood swamps. In wetter and widely distributed in the western hemi- more saline places, especially around North Sound (Fig. l), red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) predomi- sphere from Alaska to Nicaragua and to the nates, but farther inland at seasonally drier sites white West Indies (Cuba and Grand Cayman). Al- mangrove (Lagunculariu rucemosa), black mangrove though mainland populations have been (Auicenniu nitida), and buttonwood (Conocarpus er- well studied (e.g., Noble 1936, Bent 1939, ecta) combine to form a thick forest. Near North Sound Short 1965a, 1967, Bock 1971), details on these mangrove-buttonwood swamps are best devel- oped and the trees often reach heights of 18-20 m. the abundance, life history, ecology, and Open pastures. In places, the limestone forest has behavior of Colaptes aurutus on Cuba (C. been cleared for pasture. Important introduced grasses a. chrysocudosus) and Grand Cayman (C. of these pastures are Guinea grass (Punicum maximum) a. gundluchi) have not been reported. Short and Seymour grass (Andropogon metusus), with scat- tered shrubs such as Comocladia dentata and trees (196513) discussed the variation, taxonomy, such as Bursera simaruba, Roystonea sp., and Man- and evolution of West Indian flickers, John- gifera indica. ston (1970, 1975) summarized some aspects Scrub woodland. Abandoned pastures and other of the ecology of the Grand Cayman Flicker, cleared areas revert to woods consisting of species such and Cruz (1974) examined the probable as maiden plum (Comocladia pinnatifolia), red birch (Burseru simaruba), and logwood (Huematoxylum evolution and fossil record of West Indian cumpechianum).
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