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Abstract
Old-growth longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests of the Southeastern Coastal Plain have declined to merely 0.00014% of their original extent. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis) is an endemic keystone species of these forests, excavating cavities in living pines that are used by many other species. Few studies have investigated the community of cavity-nesting birds inhabiting old-growth longleaf. In this thesis, the community was studied by (1) assessing species richness and densities across a range of sites in old-field and old-growth pine forests, (2) quantifying nest site partitioning in old-growth forests and identifying potential for competition, and (3) investigating hypotheses to explain Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity kleptoparasitism. Results suggest that old-growth longleaf pine forests constitute high-quality habitats for the community because of the abundance of Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities and snags. Conserving remnant patches and striving for old-growth conditions on younger stands will continue to provide habitat for a diversity of cavity-nesting birds.