Seasonal Change in Bird Communities of the Chaparral and Blue Oak Woodlands in Central California
Avery ML and Van Riper C. 1989. Seasonal Change in Bird Communities of the Chaparral and Blue Oak Woodlands in Central California. The Condor. 91(2):288-295
During 1984 and 1985 we censused winter and spring bird communities in chamise, mixed chaparral, and blue-oak woodland habitats at Pinnacles National Monument, California. Both species composition and relative abundance of bird species in chaparral communities were more similar between seasons and years than were those of the oak woodlands. In all seasons species richness and bird numbers were highest in the blue-oak woodland, where the proportion of seasonal residents during the winter was similar to the chaparral but increased to over 37% in the spring. The number of granivorous species remained constant across habitats, but insectivores increased with increasing vegetation complexity. The high degree of variability in the blue-oak bird communities, relative to the chaparral assemblages, is probably due to greater variation in food resource availability between seasons and from year to year.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Avery, Michael; Van Riper, Charles
- Units
- PINN
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Birds (Aves), blue-oak woodland, Chaparral, granivores, Habitats, insectivores (insect eaters), Seasonality