Landbird monitoring 2018 annual report: Channel Islands National Park (revised with costs)

Hall, Linnea; Larramendy, Peter; Lee, Lena; Shaskey, Laura

doi:10.36967/nrr-2279681

The National Park Service (NPS) began monitoring landbirds at Channel Islands National Park in 1993 as part of its long-term ecological monitoring program for the park, which also became part of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program’s Mediterranean Coast Network. In 2018, landbird monitoring at Channel Islands National Park was conducted in collaboration with the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. Data were collected using distance-based sampling methods on established line transects and point count sites per protocol review recommendations proposed in 2000. The objectives of the landbird monitoring program are to 1) determine long-term trends in species composition, distribution, and abundance of native and nonnative landbird species in selected areas of Channel Islands National Park, and 2) improve our understanding of breeding bird–habitat relationships and the effects of management actions, such as alien plant and animal control on bird populations by correlating changes in landbird species composition, distribution, and abundance with changes in specific habitat variables. This report provides simple summaries of raw observational data collected using distance-based sampling methods for landbird monitoring in 2018 between 7 March and 12 June at line transects and point counts. Seventy-two landbird species were counted across all islands in 2018. Parkwide, the 10 most commonly detected landbirds in 2018 were, in descending order, Song Sparrow (scientific names given in Table 2), Spotted Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Orange-crowned Warbler, Horned Lark, Bewick’s Wren, House Finch, Common Raven, White-crowned Sparrow, and Island Scrub-Jay. Nonnative and invasive birds were counted on only 2 of the 5 islands in 2018: Eurasian-collared Dove and European Starling were counted on both Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands. Results tables show 1) individual counts by species for each island, 2) frequency of detection for each species across sites on each island, 3) new transient or visiting bird species counted in 2018 and all other years since monitoring began, and 4) patterns of species detections, identifying those not counted in the last 10 or more years.

Landbird monitoring 2018 annual report: Channel Islands National Park (revised with costs)

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