Report to the national Park Service, Klamath Network on Bird Monitoring Efforts by the Klamath Bird Observatory in the Oregon Caves National Monument 2002-2006

Frey, Robert; Larson, Keith; Alexander, John

As a component ofthe NationalPark Service (NPS) Klamath Network Inventory and Monitoring Program(KLMN), the Klamath Bird Observatory(KBO) has conducted avian Monitoring within the Oregon Caves National Monument(ORCA) since 2002. The objectives of this landbird monitoring effort include providing information useful in the description of long term trends in composition and abundance of landbirds at ORCA. The data collected at this station compliment and are contributed to several regional and national monitoring programs and databases. KBO cooperates withthe US Forest Service’s Redwood Sciences Laboratory coordinating a bird and habitat monitoring network that includes longterm constant effort bird monitoring stations where methods recommended by Partners InFlight (Husselland Ralph1998) are used (Alexander etal. 2004). The network encompasses the KlamathSiskiyou Bioregion of southern Oregon and northern California and falls within the Partners inFlight (PIF) Pacific and Intermountain West AvifaunalBiomes and habitats withinthe Bioregion include the western Oregonconifer forest type (Altman1999, Richet al. 2004). Twenty two species detected during monitoring efforts at ORCA have been identified as conservation focal species in the PIFplans. The OregonDepartment of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy(ODFW2006) identifies Oregon Caves Applegate locale as a Conservation Opportunity Area in the Klamath Mountains Ecoregion and lists two species detected during ORCA monitoring efforts as conservation species. Five years of monitoring at the ORCA station have resulted in a dataset that provides information on the presence,abundance,and productivity of bird species. Continued monitoring efforts will enrich this dataset, building its usefulness for analyses of species vitalsigns, including productivity, survivorship, and population trends. This report provides a five year summary of capture and survey efforts and an examination of select PIF focal species occurring at ORCA, including phenology of age class captures and productivity rates using capture data.

Report to the national Park Service, Klamath Network on Bird Monitoring Efforts by the Klamath Bird Observatory in the Oregon Caves National Monument 2002-2006

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