Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli) habitat occupancy in Québec's Laurentian Highlands

In North America, several migratory bird species inhabiting boreal and eastern forests are declining. Habitat loss is frequently cited as a limiting factor. We estimated occupancy of suitable nesting habitat by Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a forest dwelling threatened species, in the Laurentian Highlands of Québec. Forests in this region are shaped by intensive forestry activities and natural disturbances. The species was found primarily in stands of about 20 years or more, with higher occupancy in older stands on hilltops where recent forestry activities and natural perturbations have been much less prevalent. Bicknell's Thrush occupancy was significantly associated with high elevations in landscapes with relatively low amounts of precommercial thinning. Occupancy and multivariate niche approaches indicated that a large extent of potential habitat (> 80%) was unoccupied by breeding Bicknell's Thrushes. We conclude that maintaining sufficient amounts of suitable breeding habitat in this exploited forest landscape remains important to enable the species' recovery, but that an increase in its numbers may not materialize without further measures unrelated to availability of breeding habitat

Regional patterns of habitat use by a Threatened forest bird, the Bicknell’s Thrush, in Quebec.

Conservation of threatened species often uses habitat models to inform management of habitat and populations. We examined habitat use by Bicknell’s thrush (Catharus bicknelli Ridgway, 1882), a federally Threatened species, in two Appalachian regions, shaped by forestry activities, of southern Quebec. Within its breeding range, the species inhabits mountain tops and forests subjected to various logging activities. We assessed the role of vegetation and topography at two spatial scales, as well as spatial relationships with Swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus Nuttall, 1840), identified as potential competitor by some authors. In both regions, Bicknell’s thrush were most likely to be reported at high elevations, in forest stands with high tree stem densities that underwent little or no stem reduction from forestry activities. Swainson’s thrush was present at all sites were Bicknell’s thrush were reported. These results are consistent with findings from studies in northeastern parts of its breeding range. We conclude that forest stand thinning should be kept to a minimum throughout the high-altitude nesting habitat of Bicknell’s thrush.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Historical Biogeography Of The Bananaquit (Coereba Flaveola) In The Caribbean Region: A Mitochondrial Dna Assessment

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137347/1/evo05292.pd

Habitat Use by the Bicknell\u27s Thrush in the Estrie Region, Quebec

Volume: 114Start Page: 333End Page: 34