Woodpecker Loop Trail Young Oak Forest Oak Savanna Small Oregon White oaks dominate a thicket of An Oak Savanna has scattered large Oregon Five species of woodpeckers use one or more of poison oak, wild rose, snowberry, Himalayan white oak trees on dry, grassy hillsides. Some the plant communities along this trail. blackberry, and other shrubs. Lichens hang of these oaks are over 200 years old. Their from the trees. The former land owner broad, spreading shapes indicate they grew These woodpeckers are used as examples to repeatedly burned this area until the 1930s to without competition from other trees for space illustrate the relationship between plant produce grass for cattle grazing. Young oaks and light. Repeated fires prevented other trees communities and wildlife. They show how emerged after burning stopped. from becoming established. some species depend on a single plant community while other species thrive in many Animals You Might See Animals You Might See communities. Red-breasted Nuthatch, Scrub Jay, Northern Harrier, Gray-tailed Vole, Rufous-sided Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, California Ground Squirrel, Black- Look for Woodpeckers and other wildlife Giant Pocket Gopher, Western Gray capped Chickadee, White-breasted species illustrated for each habitat. You are Squirrel Nuthatch, Acorn Woodpecker and most likely to see the animals in their listed American Goldfinch habitat although they will go into other habitats Species Highlight: from time to time. Acorn Woodpecker Species Highlight: Identification: Clown-like pattern of Northern Flicker black, white and red on head. Identification: White rump, salmon-red underling of wings and tail. Habitat Needs: As the name implies, acorn woodpeckers prefer oak Habitat Needs: Flickers prefer open woodlands. They excavate nest holes woodlands or grasslands with scattered in oaks, pines and other tree species. large trees, but they can be seen in nearly all Oregon Habitats. They nest Special Habits: Acorn woodpeckers in holes they excavate in dead trees or are the most social of all North dead limbs of live trees. American woodpecker species. They When to Visit? live in closely-knit groups of both sexes Special Habits: Unlike other You will not see, hear, or even observe signs of and all ages year round. They use woodpeckers, flickers often feed on the all of the wildlife species that use these plant communal trees and the young are fed ground. communities because some will be quiet, some by the entire group. will be hiding, and others occur seasonally. We Food: Flickers eat more ants than any suggest that you return to this trail at different Food: They feed mostly on acorns, other Northern American bird. They times of the day and year to increase your which are stored in holes drilled in the probe anthills with their bills and chances of seeing all of the wildlife species. bark of communal trees. About a extended tongues. They also eat other quarter of their diet is insects. insects, weed seeds, and wild fruit, The plant communities will look quite different including poison oak berries. in each season. This leaflet introduces the plant Range: South from Oregon along the communities and associated wildlife in the Pacific Coast and through the Range: North America same order you will first view them along the Southwest trail. So, you can enjoy Woodpecker Loop during any season. Ash Swale Douglas Fir Forest Mixed Deciduous Forest Ash Swales are dense woodlands of medium Douglas Fir Forest includes Douglas fir trees, This big-leaf maple and Oregon white oak sized Oregon ash trees on poorly drained, generally less than 50 years old, form dense forest is on the site of a former Douglas fir seasonally flooded sites with Sedge and fern stands. The understory commonly is sword forest. Dogwoods and a few old Douglas firs ground cover. fern and Oregon grape. Douglas fir emerged are also growing here. The fast growing here following the end of periodic burning in maples emerged following logging of the Animals You Might See the 1930s. This trail just touches the edge of Douglas fir. Douglas fir seedlings cannot grow Raccoon, Wood Duck, Beaver, Pacific Tree the Douglas fir forest that covers the higher in the dense shade. Frog, Hooded Merganser, Rough-skin Newt ridges to the west. (Salamander) Animals You Might See Animals You Might See Deer Mouse, Common Bushtit, Great Horned Species Highlight: Black Bear, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Owl, Ruffed Grouse, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Red-Breasted Sap Sucker Brown Creeper, Stellar’s Jay, Townsend’s Dark-eyed Junco Identification: Scarlet hood Chipmunk, Douglas Squirrel Species Highlight: Habitat Needs: Red-breasted Species Highlight: Pileated Woodpecker sapsuckers are most abundant along Hairy Woodpecker Identification: Black, crow-sized with streams in mixed hardwood-conifer Identification: Broad white stripe red crest forest. They usually nest in snags or in down back. live trees with rotten heartwood. Habitat Needs: These large Habitat Needs: In Oregon, hairy woodpeckers prefer dense coniferous Special Habits: They communicate by woodpeckers are found mainly in forests, or mixed hardwood-conifer slow tapping and drumming. coniferous forests. They prefer to forests. They excavate their elongated excavate nest holes in trees in open nest holes in tall dead trees. Food: As their name suggests, they locations regularly eat sap throughout the year. Special Habits: Both sexes drum, They drill parallel rows of small holes Special Habitats: They are expert usually on a resonant place on a dead in the trunks and branches of trees, climbers, at home on vertical trunks tree or dead limb. Drumming permitting sap to ooze out. Insects are and the underside of branches. They advertises territory, attracts a mate, or attracted to the sweet-smelling sap and often excavate the entrance of a branch, announces that the birds are about to go become part of the sapsucker’s meal. to discourage invaders like starlings to roost for the night. and flying squirrels. Range: North American South of Food: Carpenter ants and beetles are Alaska Food: They prefer insects on dead and their major foods. In the fall, they eat diseased trees. wild fruits such as dogwood berries and cherries. Range: North America Range: Canada to California along Pacific Coast, east across wooded Canada, east of Mississippi River. .