Native bark-foraging birds preferentially forage in infected ash (Fraxinus spp.) and prove effective predators of the invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire)

Inadvertently introduced into North America in the 1990s, the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) has been spreading across the Great Lakes Region resulting in widespread ash tree (Fraxinus spp.) mortality. Native woodpeckers and other bark-foraging insectivores represent one of the few potential natural predators of EAB in the U.S. In this study, we combined observational and destructive tree harvesting approaches to assess...