Birds

While salamanders are an example of "site sensitive" species, birds are an example of "area sensitive" species. Area sensitive species need large tracts of intact forest (or other habitat) to survive and flourish. Many types of birds fall into this category. The decline observed in forest songbird populations since World War II has been attributed to the loss of the large, unfragmented forests that provide homes for forest interior birds. Human development, in the form of roads, clearings and construction, serves to break up forest tracts. The result is much less interior forest breeding habitat, and more nest predation (raccoons and opossums looking for an easy meal) and brood parasitism (by cowbirds looking for parents to unwittingly raise their young). Studies in the eastern United States have confirmed that many songbirds will breed only in large tracts of unfragmented forest, even though their individual territories consist of only a couple of acres (Robbins et al., 1989; Whitcomb et al., 1981). The most area-sensitive birds will only be encountered if the forest exceeds 3,000 hectares.

Forests within the Chattooga River watershed presently support populations of forest-interior birds. Bird enthusiasts can hear the songs, and may see the bright, colorful flash of a resident hooded warbler, blackburnian warbler, or Canada warbler. Less conspicuous but equally beautiful songsters like the wood thrush or the veery may be heard on a walk through these rich forests as well. The solitary vireo, an uncommon bird nationwide, is found here. The ovenbird is another warbler species that is highly sensitive to the effects of forest fragmentation. Their presence suggests that these forests provide at least some interior habitat for this ground-nesting species, which is a frequent cowbird victim in more disturbed areas.

Birds serve important functions in the forest interior: the huge number of insects they eat, the plants they pollinate, the seeds they disperse, and the nutrients they return to the soils, are a web of life on which many other plants and animals depend. Because they are conspicuous, and often environmentally sensitive, birds can serve as reliable indicators of the health of the ecosystem they inhabit. Many researchers have become concerned about the decline of forest bird populations in the region (e.g., Terborgh, 1992). Conserving and restoring interior forest habitat, across the watershed and the region, is predicted to help forest-interior bird populations recover (Robbins et al., 1989; Whitcomb et al., 1981).

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