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The Breeding Avifauna of San Benito Mountain, California: Evidence for Change Over One-Half Century

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The Breeding Avifauna of San Benito Mountain, California: Evidence for Change Over One-Half Century WESTERN BIRDS Volume 16, Number 1, 1985 THE BREEDING AVIFAUNA OF SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN, CALIFORNIA: EVIDENCE FOR CHANGE OVER ONE-HALF CENTURY NED K. JOHNSON, Museum of VertebrateZoology and Department of Zoology, Universityof California, Berkeley,California 94720 CARLA CICERO, Department of LandscapeArchitecture, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 The San Benito Mountain region of the southernDiablo Range, San Benito and Fresno counties,California, is of unusualbiological interest for severalreasons. The highestpeaks, San Benito Mountain (5241 ft [1599 m]) and Santa Rita Peak (5165 ft [1575 m]), supporton their upper slopes significantforest well isolatedfrom such growth in other areas. The nearest majorstands of mixedconifers appear approximately 50 miles(80 kin) to the west, in the northernSanta Lucia Range, MontereyCounty. Eastward,a distanceof approximately93 miles (150 kin) separatesthe San Benito con- ifersfrom the rich forestsof the SierraNevada (Figure1). The dominantspecies of coniferin mostof the forestis CoulterPine (Pir•us coulteri).It hybridizesextensively with the muchscarcer Jeffrey Pine (Pir•us jeffreyi),the latterspecies growing in stronglydisjunct stands far from itsmain Sierran distribution(Griffin and Critchfield1976:82). Digger Pine (Pir•us sabir•iar•a)and Incense-cedar(Calocedrus decurrer•s) are alsoprevalent. Ac- cordingto Griffin(1974:13), "thecombination of thesethree related pines all growingtogether can not be duplicatedanywhere else and is of greatinterest to forestgeneticists." Strangely, much of the forestgrows in open and highly insolatedstands which are largelyconfined to otherwisebald serpentinesoils (Figure2). A diversegroup of shrubbyspecies also formsa conspicuous chaparralelement on the serpentine.However, most of theseshrubs are not thoseusually associated with montane forest. In addition,the serpentinesoils supportan interestingassemblage of herbaceousspecies, some of which are endemic.The foregoingfioristic notes are mainlyfrom Griffin (1974 and 1975). He alsofully describesother aspectsof the local ecology. WesternBirds 16:1-23, 1985 1 AVIFAUNAL CHANGE ON SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN Although the San Benito Mountain area has been easily accessiblefor years and received concentratedattention from at least two groups of vertebratezoologists prior to our visitsin 1983 and 1984, only scatteredbird recordsfrom there have been published (Grinnell and Mfiler 1944). Our surveyof American•}irc•$ for the lastdecade turned up no recentrecords for the region. Insofar as we have been able to ascertain,the notes and specimenstaken by all previousworkers are preservedin the Museum of VertebrateZoology, University of California,Berkeley. The firstmajor sample of birdsfrom the region was taken by FletcherG. Palmerbetween 9 and 21 June 1936. He was accompaniedby David H. Johnson, who mainly col- lectedmammals. Camping at 4400 ft (1342 m), 1 mile (1.61 km) southeast of the San Benito Mountain summit,they collectedprimarily on the moun- tainbut alsovisited nearby Santa Rita Peak. Importantly,their work wasdone during the heart of the breedingseason. Eight years later, from 6 to 11 August 1944, Alden H. Miller and Robert W. Storer collecteda large number of birds and other vertebratesfrom much of the highlandarea surrounding San Benito Mountain as well as from the peak itself.Although their August recordsare too late to document breedingstatus for the summer resident species,they are suitableas evidencefor the occurrenceof permanentlyresi- dent forms. Our work in 1983 (12-14 May and 8-9 June) and 1984 (12-18 May and 31 May-1 June) focusedon the denseststands of coniferson San Benito Mountain, those occurringon north and northeast-facingslopes and draws between 4000 ft and the summit. On 17 May 1984, we censused speciesfound alonga 3-mile transectfollowing San CarlosCreek, from 3700 ft (1129 m) to 4400 ft. We also hiked the lower canyon of the East Fork of San Carlos Creek, which differsfrom much of the area in that it is relatively moistand dominatedby Canyon Live Oaks (Quercuschrysolepis). Despite the fact that our work emphasizedthe mid-May period, we stressthat nesting behaviorand reproductivecondition of collectedspecimens clearly estab- lishedbreeding status for the vastmajority of birdspresent at that time. Sur- prisinglyfew birdsseem to use San Benito Mountain as a stop-oversite dur- ing migration.Our studies,as well as thoseconducted by earlierfield parties, are supportedby completeand annotatedlists of every speciesencountered in the region. Althoughwe do not considersuch compilationsto be ex- haustivelists, they are completeenough to supportthe discussionand con- clusionson avifaunalchange offered beyond. Coniferousforest in the North TemperateZone is occupiedlargely by a boreal avifauna. Accordingto Miller (1951:582-591), such an avifauna in Californiais comprisedof speciesof fundamentallynorthern derivation that range into borealenvironments of the state,either along the coastor in the highlands. In general, such species are adapted to cool and/or moist habitats.As Miller has mapped (loc. cit.:588), borealenvironments along the coastof west-centralCalifornia are fragmentedinto two components,Santa Cruz and Monterey;these are positionednorth and southof MontereyBay, respectively.The coniferousforest of San Benito Mountain representsa boreal islandlying approximately50 milesto the east of Miller'sMonterey component (hereaftercalled "the Monterey District"). For one or more reasons,Miller did not includethe San BenitoMountain region on hismap of the boreal areas of California. First, perhapshe regardedit as one of an AVIFAUNAL CHANGE ON SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN unspecifiednumber of "very small detached boreal areas" which were neitherplotted nor analyzed(Miller 1951:583). Second,he may have con- sideredthe regionto have been incompletelyexplored avifaunally. Third, he had not personallyvisited the mountainduring the breedingseason. In any event, despitethe smallsize, isolationand impoverishmentof the borealen- vironmentsof the San Benito Mountain region, a substantialmountaintop avifaunaoccurs there. The firstpurpose of our paper is to describethis avi- fauna and to compareit with disjunctboreal avifaunas to the west, namely thoseof the MontereyDistrict and HastingsNatural History Reservation, and with a more remote boreal avifauna to the east, that of Yosemite National Park in the main Sierra Nevada (Figure1). The avifauna of San Benito Mountain deservesspecial attention for anotherreason. Because of the thoroughnessof the surveys,it is possibleto searchfor evidenceof temporalchange over the approximate1/2 century that elapsedbetween the earlyand recentvisits. This is the secondpurpose of our '--'"- ß ,--J ,-,-' . .- •. • Yosemite •" .... , , .','..... ,.-- • • • •Nahonal • "• • •.r' ', / • •';;:J•;:;f;f;Park 38 ø -x• • • i ' • ::::::.. :..•,.. ,.v.,:.::.:.:.:':;:•.::.:c..,:::. •%- --. , ,- , • .... :•,.:.:,.. I ?s'x c ,' . ,-- %,',,,%". ,' 37 ø > •_;•,, ..... • ,, • •(./ t•:.• Hastings '.. SanBedto ,•'-- o .... 36 ø - o •'•• Monterey'-,_',.•,• Region..' •::•5• Dlsfrlct' ' '-"• ,' • ...... • ....... J ...... ....... L• L• Lm 123ø 122 ø 121ø 120 ø 119ø Figure 1. Map of centralCalifornia showing the locationof the San BenitoMountain regionin relationto the MontereyDistrict as definedby Miller (1951), the Hastings Natural History Reservation,and YosemiteNational Park. AVIFAUNAL CHANGE ON SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN paper.As thefollowing species accounts will show, some surprising changes have indeed occurred,both in the compositionof the avifaunaand in the abundanceof certainbreeding species. Although the emphasisof thispaper is on borealspecies, accounts are alsoincluded for australforms that have eithercolonized or changedin statuswithin recent decades. Furthermore, we alsocomment on interestinghabitat relationships for particularspecies. SPECIES ACCOUNTS MOUNTAIN QUAIL (Oreortyxpictus). Although well-known from the Santa Lucia Rangeof MontereyCo., thisspecies was not reportedfrom the San BenitoMountain regionby Grinnelland Miller (1944:117-119).Thus, Palmerdid not recordit during his work there in 1936. In contrast,we heard Mountain Quail commonly in 1983, whenseveral widely-spaced individuals were calling on eachof severalmornings. In May 1984, the specieswas again recorded but lessfrequently. Evidently, these in- dividuals were descendants of 43 birds introduced above New Idria in 1957, from stocknative to the China Lake region [probablyfrom the nearbyArgus Mountains] (fideDon Pineof CaliforniaDepartment of Fishand Game, J.R. Griffinin litt. 10 Jan 1984). There is no evidencethat Mountain Quail ever occurrednaturally on San Benito Mountain, althoughthe extensivehabitat of diversebrushland there seems ideal for this species. Figure2. View of the highcountry, looking north, from the northslope of San Benito Peak, 8 June 1983. Note the open natureof the forest,small stature of the trees,and the prevalenceof bareserpentine soil. The trackof a dirt bikeis visiblein the left-center of the foreground. Photo by Carla Cicero AVIFAUNAL CHANGE ON SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL (Aegoliusacadicus). At 0250 on 18 May 1984, we awoketo the rhythmicwhistles of thisspecies coming from the forestapproximately 400 yardsabove camp alongthe EastFork of San CarlosCreek, 4500 ft (1373 m) (at 1/2mile north and 1/2mile eastof San BenitoMountain). The nightwas clear and cool (Temp. 50øF) with a gibbousmoon. In responseto our imitationsof the call, the owl moved upslopefor 1/• mile beforefinally taking a standin
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