Streamside Bird Monitoring in Friendship Hill National Historic Site

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) - one of the most abundant bird species at Friendship Hill National Historic Site point count stations. Photo © Bill Thompson

A new report from the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network summarizes the first 11 years (2008 to 2019) of monitoring the streamside bird community at Friendship Hill National Historic Site. During that time period four observers conducted 276 point count surveys detecting 2,518 individual birds at nine point count stations within the park.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site contains a rich and diverse streamside bird community with a total 59 species detected; 50 of which are target species and presumed to be breeding in the park during summer months. The majority of the 20 most abundant species were forest-associated species including both forest-interior species and forest-generalist species reflecting the dominant vegetation structure at the park.

Sixteen species overall and six of the 10 most abundant species were of conservation importance in the Appalachian Mountains bird conservation region (Figure 1), highlighting the significance of even a relatively small park like Friendship Hill National Historic Site to avian conservation. Most of the species of conservation importance at the park were species dependent on intact, mature, deciduous forest as habitat for nesting and breeding.

Figure 1. Twenty most abundant streamside bird species at Friendship Hill National Historic Site point count stations from 2008–2019. Bars represent the unadjusted mean birds per point (+1SD) across all years of monitoring. *Species of regional conservation importance.

Trends in abundance over the period of monitoring were assessed for the 50 species in the target population. Of those species, 27 (54%) appear to be stable or increasing and 23 (46%) appear to be declining during the period of monitoring.

This report provides the first information regarding long-term population trends of breeding birds in Friendship Hill National Historic Site. Continued monitoring will provide new insights and future analyses will explore specific factors linked to population trends. As anthropogenic land use and climate change continue to reshape the Appalachian landscape, park managers will need this information to best allocate effort that aligns with regional conservation planning and other park priorities.

Report Citation:

Marshall, M. R. 2021. Streamside bird monitoring in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network: Friendship Hill National Historic Site 2008–2019. Natural Resource Report NPS/ERMN/NRR—2021/2328. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2288170.

For more information, contact the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network Program Manager, Matt Marshall.