Jacques Ibarzabal

• Professeur-chercheur
• Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Knowledge on the diet of the Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus Swainson, 1832) is fragmentary and relies on a limited number of studies. Gaps remain in our understanding of the plasticity of its diet, particularly in the eastern part of its range. The main objective of this study was to assess the diet of Black-backed Woodpeckers in burned...

The study of migratory songbird transition periods, such as the post-breeding period, is complex because birds undertake different types of movements that vary in space and time. Nonetheless, it is important to understand the extent and duration of the territory and specific sites use to identify human activities likely to affect the species’ survi...

Old‐growth forests are optimal habitats for many woodpeckers, which are often themselves excellent indicators of deadwood‐associated biodiversity. Old‐growth forests are, however, heterogeneous ecosystems in terms of structure, composition, and deadwood characteristics, thus implying a varied use of these forests by woodpeckers. In boreal landscape...

Many migratory species are declining and for most, the proximate causes of their declines remain unknown. For many long-distance Neotropical migratory songbirds, it is assumed that habitat loss on breeding or non-breeding grounds is a primary driver of population declines. We integrated data collected from tracking technology, community science and...

Migratory connectivity is the degree to which populations are linked in space and time across the annual cycle. Low connectivity indicates mixing of populations while high connectivity indicates population separation in space or time. High migratory connectivity makes individual populations susceptible to local environmental conditions; therefore,...

Increased demand for timber, the reduction in the available timber resources, and more frequent and severe forest fires under a changing climate have increased the use of salvage logging in North American forests despite concerns regarding impacts on biodiversity and long-term forest productivity. We aimed to complement previous approaches that use...

Background To effectively conserve migratory species, the entire range encompassed by their annual life cycle needs to be considered. Most research on Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds has focused on the breeding grounds resulting in a general lack of knowledge regarding the wintering and migratory periods. The Canada Warbler (Cardellina canaden...

Standing deadwood is an important attribute of old-growth boreal forests and it provides essential microhabitats for deadwood-associated species. In managed boreal forests, short rotations tend to limit the amount and diversity of standing deadwood. This study evaluates if the anthropogenic supply of deadwood attributes through tree girdling or by...

Preliminary results

• Fire‐killed timber is considered as a loss of potential revenues and is thus increasingly salvaged, though not without concerns for biodiversity conservation. Indeed, a large diversity of burn‐associated saproxylic beetles use recently burned trees. • This study intends to reduce potential impacts of salvage logging on biodiversity by identifying...

Nest care is an important parental contribution to offspring. In woodpeckers, males often have an equal or greater contribution to parental care, including nest sanitation. The Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) is a North American boreal woodpecker for which both parents are highly involved in parental care. By modifying their territory s...

This study aimed to characterize the vertical distribution of longhorned beetle larvae in burned trees of the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) trees burned at three severity levels were cut, and 30 cm boles were collected from the ground up to a hei...

Black-backed woodpecker is known to be a disturbance-associated species, being more abundant in disturbed forest stands than in undisturbed habitats, but its demography and population dynamic still need to be clarified. The present study was conducted in central Quebec within coniferous forests shaped largely by timber harvest and wildfire. The obj...

L’Équipe de rétablissement des oiseaux de proie du Québec (EROP) a été fondée en 2004, à la suite de la fusion des équipes de rétablissement du faucon pèlerin (Falco peregrinus), du pygargue à tête blanche (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) et de l’aigle royal (Aquila chrysaetos). À ces espèces d’intérêt pour l’EROP s’est ajouté récemment le hibou des mar...

Nest success is often used to evaluate the impact of environmental stressors on species, but nestling growth may also be indicative of subtle consequences on individual fitness. We monitored Black-backed Woodpecker Picoides arcticus nestling growth in unburned boreal forests under the influence of commercial logging. The objectives of our explorato...

Artificial feeding stations often are established to attract and habituate wildlife species to facilitate their observation, but this activity is controversial because of its potential negative impact on wildlife and, in some cases, threat to human safety. Bear managers have few empirical data to establish guidelines for bear-watching sites. The ob...

Nest success is often used to evaluate the impact of environmental stressors on species, but nestling growth may also be indicative of subtle consequences on individual fitness. We monitored Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) nestling growth in unburned boreal forests under the influence of commercial logging. The objectives of our explora...

After fire, the whitespotted sawyer, Monochamus scutellatus scutellatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is considered one of the most damaging xylophagous insects by forest industries in the eastern boreal forest of North America. Although this species is often considered opportunistic because it dwells on various stressed host trees, it can be f...

Early postfire habitats harbour numerous saproxylic species. Some are opportunistic feeders, while others are closely associated with burned forests. This distinction is important for developing sound postfire forest management aimed at conserving biodiversity, as concerns should be mostly directed towards burn-associated saproxylic beetles rather...

Fire-generated mosaics of habitat legacies such as dead and dying trees are key structural components in boreal forest ecosystems that support diverse saproxylic beetles. Our study sought to elucidate the spatial pattern of community composition (beta diversity) of saproxylic beetles along gradients of post-fire habitat legacies (tree species compo...

It is often suggested that habitat attributes and interspecific interactions can cause non-random species co-occurrence patterns, but quantifying their contributions can be difficult. Null models that systematically exclude and include habitat effects can give information on the contribution of these factors to community assembly. In the boreal for...

We modeled migration intensity as a function of weather, using nightly migration measurements from Doppler surveillance weather radar during autumn migration on the north (Cote-Nord) and south (Gaspesie) shores of the St. Lawrence estuary, Quebec, Canada. The radar had negative elevation angles, an uncommon characteristic among weather radars, whic...

We documented the pattern of nocturnal passerine migration on each side of the St.Lawrence estuary (Cte-Nord north and Gaspsie south), using the Doppler Canadian weather surveillance radar of Val dIrne (XAM). We examined whether autumnal migrants flew across the St.Lawrence, resulting in a uniform broad-front migration, or avoided crossing it, resu...

Background/Question/Methods Both stochastic and deterministic ecological filters act upon regional species pool and leave their imprints on local community assembly. Recurrent and non-random co-occurrence patterns among species should reflect common and distinct interactions of species to their biotic and abiotic environment. For example, segregate...

Managed coniferous forest dominates much of the black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus Swainson) breeding range. Despite this, little is known about the fine-scale foraging behaviour of this focal species in unburned managed forest stands in the absence of insect outbreaks. To investigate the foraging substrates used in such a habitat, we empl...

Using a Canadian weather surveillance radar (CWSR), we assessed the relationship between aural passerine counts and radar reflectivity during autumn migration on 16 nights. Reflectivity was positively correlated on all but I night with the number of birds detected aurally, but the correlation strength varied between -0.58 and 0.93 among nights (mea...

We investigated home-range characteristics and habitat selection by Black-backed Woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus) in an unburned, boreal forest landscape managed by mosaic harvesting in Quebec, Canada. Habitat selection by this species was specifically examined to determine home-range establishment and foraging activities. We hypothesized that Black...

Investigamos la relación entre la abundancia de roedores pequeños hacia el final del verano y la abundancia de migrantes de dos especies de búhos depredadores nocturnos, Aegolius funereus y A. acadicus, durante sus movimientos de otoño. En los bosques boreales del este de Canadá, A. funereus se considera residente (con movimientos repentinos hacia...

Un risque élevé de prédation est souvent associé aux lisières des forêts. La plupart des prédateurs de nids des forêts conifériennes boréales de l'Amérique du Nord sont essentiellement des espèces du milieu forestier mature. Les prédateurs de nids ont surtout été étudiés à l'aide de nids artificiels et la connaissance de leur comportement reste lim...

Huot, M. & Ibarzabal, J. 2006: A comparison of the age-class structure of black-backed woodpeck-ers found in recently burned and unburned boreal coniferous forests in eastern Canada. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 43: 131–136. Black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus) may depend on recently burned forest patches to maintain viable population levels. We wa...

Ibarzabal, J. & Desmeules, P. 2006: Black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) detectability in unburned and recently burned mature conifer forests in north-eastern North America. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 43: 228–234. Presence–absence data is often used to determine the preferred habitat of a given organism. However, with presence–absence datasets the...

A method allowing the easy access of nestlings of cavity nesting species is outlined. Briefly, a hole saw fitted to an 18-V cordless drill is used to cut a hole between 5 cm and 8 cm below the cavity entrance. The aperture created allows extraction of nestlings by hand. After manipulation, the wooden disk cut during the formation of the hole is wra...

Studies of avian nesting success at the landscape level often use a single indirect measure to evaluate nest predation or parental activity. During two summers at Foret Montmorency, Quebec, we analyzed and compared three indirect measures of nest predation risk: detection of two nest predators, (1) red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Erxleben) an...

High nest-predation risk is often associated with forest edges. Most nest predators in boreal coniferous forests of North America are forest specialists living in mature stands. Nest predators have been studied mainly through use of artificial nests; knowledge of their behavior remains limited. We used radiotelemetry to examine movement patterns, r...

High nest-predation risk is often associated with forest edges. Most nest predators in boreal coniferous forests of North America are forest specialists living in mature stands. Nest predators have been studied mainly through use of artificial nests; knowledge of their behavior remains limited. We used radiotelemetry to examine movement patterns, r...

Nest predation risk often increases near forest edges in agricultural landscapes, but this pattern has rarely been found in forested landscapes. Whether this lack of relationship is general remains unclear, especially because no assessment of statistical power has been published. To (1) assess whether and how far nest predation risk is associated w...

Nest predation risk often increases near forest edges in agricultural landscapes, but this pattern has rarely been found in forested landscapes. Whether this lack of relationship is general remains unclear, especially because no assessment of statistical power has been published. To (1) assess whether and how far nest predation risk is associated w...

Community-level indices of reproductive success are useful for measuring or monitoring demographic effects of habitat alteration on birds. We present a time-efficient method to estimate the relative reproductive activity of the forest songbird community. A recording of mobbing calls of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) was broadcast at...