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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY . Voi 123. No. 2. June 2011 
infrequent and limited in size to support a high 
proportion of the total breeding population. 
Mature and old growth coniferous forests with 
large numbers of snags in early decay classes may 
sustain habitat alternatives in unburncd forests 
(Nappi and Drapeau 2009). Bums in the Upper 
Peninsula of Michigan are likely the optimum 
habitat (a source), but moderate population-level 
replacement probably occurs outside of them, as 
suggested as an alternate model by Hutto (1995). 
Additional studies in a wide variety of burned 
habitats and geographic locations within the 
Black-backed Woodpecker’s range are necessary 
to further identify patterns in nesting density, 
specifically: (1) reasons for spatial clumping of 
nests in particular regions of burned forest, and (2) 
an evaluation of whether unburned forests arc 
sinks, comparing productivity of Black-backed 
Woodpeckers in burned versus completely un¬ 
burned old-growth boreal forests. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
We thank Jerry Edde for assistance with the field work 
and Melinda Stamp for producing the map. We also 
appreciate the comments of J. A. Jackson and two 
anonymous reviewers who reviewed die manuscript, and 
provided many helpful suggestions. Scott Hickman provid¬ 
ed valuable expertise on several ornithological questions. 
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Egg Success, Hatching Success, and Nest-site Selection of Brown Pelicans. 
Gail lard Island, Alabama, USA 
Orin J. Robinson 1 - 23 and John J. Dindo 1 
'Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory, 101 Bienville Boule¬ 
vard, Dauphin Island, AL 36528. USA. 
2 Current address: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and 
Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm 
Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. 
Corresponding author; e-mail:robinoj@eden.rutgers.edu 
ABSTRACT.—We investigated factors that at feet 
nest-site selection, egg success, and hatching success of 
Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) on Gaillard 
Island. Alabama. USA, a man-made island in Mobile 
Bay. Vegetation density at differing heights, and 
temporal and spatial variables were considered in the 
analysis. Brown Pelicans arriving earliest chose sites 
