Article Using Bioacoustics to Examine Vocal Phenology of Neotropical Migratory Birds on a Wild and Scenic River in Arizona Heather L. Bateman 1,* , Sidney B. Riddle 1,2 and Erin S. Cubley 3 1 College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212, USA;
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[email protected] Simple Summary: Rivers can support forests of trees that mostly rely on water provided by the river. This area between the land and river is called riparian. In arid regions, that do not receive much rainfall, these riparian forests are very rare and support many unique bird species. Some songbirds migrate between North American and Central and South America and only nest in riparian forests. We used acoustic recorders which are instruments fitted with a microphone to record sound. We measured how many days during the summer four migratory birds were detected by their vocalizations in the riparian forest. We found that using acoustic recorders can be an effective way to document bird vocalization over time and in remote areas. Forests along rivers need water and are important to support a diversity of migratory birds. Abstract: Passive acoustic recorders have been used successfully as automated survey tools to detect Citation: Bateman, H.L.; Riddle, S.B.; terrestrial wildlife. However, few studies have monitored Neotropical migratory bird use of riparian Cubley, E.S.