Snags (standing dead trees) with natural cavities are important to secondary cavity nesters. Secondary nesters will build their nest on top of the old nests left in the hole. Subscribe Birds Who Excavate their Own Cavity Nest or Use Natural or Abandoned Cavities Photo Credit: Sara Hollerich, USFWS.Įnter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Black-capped Chickadee (Parus atricapillus) nest cavity. Wood chips are often used to line the nesting cavity. The wood chips beneath the hole will be oblong, too. The large Pileated Woodpecker makes a large squarish, oblong hole. Woodpecker nest holes can be identified by shape. This means citizen scientists can help to fill in the gaps in research by collecting data. Many woodpecker species are poorly studied. Woodpeckers are supremely important to ecosystems for their excavation activities. This provides plenty of abandoned cavities for other animals to use. Most woodpecker species will excavate a new nest cavity every year.
Black-backed Woodpecker – live tree with rotting heartwoodīoth male and female woodpeckers build nest holes. White-headed Woodpecker – live tree or dead shrub of pine. Ladder-backed Woodpecker – live saguaro cactus. Red-napped Sapsucker – dead or living tree with rotting heartwood caused by fungus. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – live tree with rotting heartwood caused by fungus. 
Golden-fronted Woodpecker – live trunk or large tree usually mesquite, pecan, oak or in a dead limb.Western Woodpeckers that Excavate Nest Holes in Living Trees It spends on average two years excavating the cavity because of the living trees relatively hard wood. It lives in mature Longleaf Pine savannas.
It is a rare and local bird of the southeastern U.S. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picodes borealis) nests in living pines.
Hairy Woodpecker – living or decaying tree trunk or limb. Downy Woodpecker – dying or decaying tree. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – living poplar or birch tree with heart rot. Red-cockaded Woodpecker – living pines taking up to two years to excavate the cavity. Eastern Woodpeckers that use Living or Dying and Dead Trees Species that nest in living trees often make new holes in the same tree over several years. These primary nest hole builders include: Other species will choose trees with wood softened by disease and fungal infestations. This creates future potential nest sites. The woodpeckers spread the fungal infections by carrying the spores on their bills. Some woodpecker species will choose to live trees with hardwood softened by fungal disease to drill new nests. Most birds that nest and excavate in living trees choose softwoods such as aspens. On average, it takes a woodpecker two weeks to excavate a cavity. Where the Northern Flicker is the primary nest cavity excavators, the Flicker’s nest holes provide homes to over thirteen species of mammal and bird species. Woodpeckers are the primary excavators of nest holes. 
6 Birds who can’t excavate and only use natural or abandoned cavitiesĭo-It-Yourselfers: Birds that Excavate Their Own Cavity Nests. 5 Birds Who Excavate their Own Cavity Nest or Use Natural or Abandoned Cavities. 3 Western Woodpeckers that Excavate Nest Holes in Living Trees. 2 Eastern Woodpeckers that use Living or Dying and Dead Trees. 1 Do-It-Yourselfers: Birds that Excavate Their Own Cavity Nests.
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