Fire and Avian Ecology in North America FIRE AND AVIAN ECOLOGY IN NORTH AMERICA VICTORIA A. SAAB AND HUGH D. W. POWELL, EDITORS Saab and Powell Studies in Avian Biology No. 30 Studies in Avian Biology No. 30 A Publication of the Cooper Ornithological Society FIRE AND AVIAN ECOLOGY IN NORTH AMERICA Victoria A. Saab and Hugh D. W. Powell, Editors Studies in Avian Biology No. 30 A PUBLICATION OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY Cover drawing: Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus), Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), and Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Drawing by Joyce V. VanDeWater. STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY Edited by Carl D. Marti Raptor Research Center Boise State University Boise, ID 83725 Studies in Avian Biology is a series of works too long for The Condor, published at irregular intervals by the Cooper Ornithological Society. Manuscripts for consideration should be submitted to the editor. Style and format should follow those of previous issues. 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Any use not specifi cally granted here, and any use of Studies in Avian Biology articles or portions thereof for advertising, republication, or commercial uses, requires prior consent from the editor. ISBN: 0-943610-64-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2005925879 Printed at Cadmus Professional Communications, Ephrata, Pennsylvania 17522 Issued: 27 July 2005 Copyright © by the Cooper Ornithological Society 2005 CONTENTS LIST OF AUTHORS ............................................................................................................ v–vi PREFACE ........................................................................................................................... vii Fire and avian ecology in North America: process infl uencing pattern ................................. ..........................................................................Victoria A. Saab and Hugh D. W. Powell 1 Fire and birds in the southwestern United States................................................................... .................................................................................. Carl E. Bock and William M. Block 14 Changing fi re regimes and the avifauna of California oak woodlands................................... .......................................................................... Kathryn L. Purcell and Scott L. Stephens 33 Fire and birds in maritime Pacifi c Northwest ........................................................................ ...................... Mark H. Huff, Nathaniel E. Seavy, John D. Alexander, and C. John Ralph 46 The role of fi re in structuring sagebrush habitats and bird communities ............................... ................................................Steven T. Knick, Aaron L. Holmes, and Richard F. Miller 63 Variation in fi re regimes of the Rocky Mountains: implications for avian communities and fi re management ........................ Victoria A. Saab, Hugh D. W. Powell, Natasha B. Kotliar, and Karen R. Newlon 76 Bird responses to burning and logging in the boreal forest of Canada .................................. ................................................................................. Susan J. Hannon and Pierre Drapeau 97 Fire regimes and avian responses in the central tallgrass prairie .................Dan L. Reinking 116 Fire ecology and bird populations in eastern deciduous forests............................................. ....................................... Vanessa L. Artman, Todd F. Hutchinson, and Jeffrey D. Brawn 127 Infl uence of fi re and other anthropogenic practices on grassland and shrubland birds in New England ......................... Peter D. Vickery, Benjamin Zuckerberg, Andrea L. Jones, W. Gregory Shriver, and Andrew P. Weik 139 Effects of fi re regime on birds in southeastern pine savannas and native prairies ................. .......... R. Todd Engstrom, Peter D. Vickery, Dustin W. Perkins, and W. Gregory Shriver 147 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................................... 161 LIST OF AUTHORS JOHN D. ALEXANDER ANDREA L. JONES Klamath Bird Observatory Massachusetts Audubon Society Box 758, Ashland, OR 97520 Lincoln, MA 01773 VANESSA L. ARTMAN STEVEN T. KNICK Department of Biology USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center DePauw University Snake River Field Station Greencastle, IN 46135 970 Lusk Street, Boise, ID 83706 WILLIAM M. BLOCK NATASHA B. KOTLIAR USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain U.S. Geological Survey Research Station Fort Collins Science Center 2500 S. Pine Knoll 2150 Centre Ave, Building C Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Fort Collins, CO 80526 ICHARD ILLER CARL E. BOCK R F. M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center University of Colorado Oregon State University Boulder, CO 80309-0334 Department of Rangeland Resources Corvallis, OR 97331 JEFFREY D. BRAWN Illinois Natural History Survey and University of Illinois KAREN R. NEWLON 607 East Peabody Drive USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Champaign, IL 61820 1648 S. 7th Ave. Bozeman, MT 59717-2780 PIERRE DRAPEAU DUSTIN W. PERKINS Département des sciences biologiques Department of Natural Resources Conservation Université du Québec à Montréal University of Massachusetts Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8 Amherst, MA 01003 (Current address: National Park Service R. TODD ENGSTROM P.O. Box 239 Tall Timbers Research Station Lyndon B. Johnson National Park 13093 Henry Beadel Drive Johnson City, TX 78636) Tallahassee, FL 32312 (Current address: The Nature Conservancy HUGH D. W. POWELL 4340 Highway 84 West High Desert Ecological Research Institute Thomasville, GA 31792) 15 SW Colorado Ave., Suite 300 Bend, OR 97702 SUSAN J. HANNON (Current address: [email protected]) Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta KATHRYN L. PURCELL Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9 USDA Forest Service, Pacifi c Southwest Research Station Sierra Nevada Research Center AARON L. HOLMES 2081 E. Sierra Avenue PRBO—Conservation Science Fresno, CA 93710 4990 Shoreline Highway Stinson Beach, CA 94970 C. JOHN RALPH USDA Forest Service, Pacifi c Southwest Research Station MARK H. HUFF Redwood Sciences Laboratory USDI Fish and Wildlife Service 1700 Bayview Drive Offi ce of Technical Support-Forest Resources Arcata, CA 95521 911 N.E. 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97232 DAN L. REINKING Sutton Avian Research Center TODD F. HUTCHINSON Oklahoma Biological Survey USDA Forest Service University of Oklahoma 359 Main Road P.O. Box 2007 Delaware, OH 43015 Bartlesville, OK 74005-2007 VICTORIA A. SAAB PETER D. VICKERY USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Center for Ecological Research 1648 S. 7th Avenue Richmond, ME 04357 Montana State University and Bozeman, MT 59717-2780 Department of Natural Resources Conservation University of Massachusetts NATHANIEL E. SEAVY Amherst, MA 01003 Department of Zoology University of Florida ANDREW P. WEIK Gainesville, FL 32611-8029 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Bangor, ME 04401 Klamath Bird Observatory Box 758 BENJAMIN ZUCKERBERG Ashland, OR 97520 Department of Natural Resources Conservation University of Massachusetts W. GREGORY SHRIVER Amherst, MA 01003 State University of New York (Current address: State University of New York Syracuse, NY 13210 Syracuse, NY 13210) (Current address: National Park Service 54 Elm Street Woodstock, VT 05091) SCOTT L. STEPHENS University of California Division of Ecosystem Science Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California 139 Mulford Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-3114 Studies in Avian Biology No. 30:vii PREFACE Many North American ecosystems evolved under graciously served as peer reviewers for the chap- the infl uence of wildfi re. Nevertheless, for much of ters in this volume: Robert Askins, Bill Block, the twentieth century, land managers concentrated Carl Bock, Greg Butcher, Mary Chase, Courtney their fi re management activities on minimizing the Conway, Richard DeGraff, Jane Fitzgerald, Luke amount of land that burned. The 1980s saw wider George, Matt Vander Haegen, Chuck Hunter, Dick acceptance of fi re with both wild and managed fi re Hutto, Frances James, Rudy King, John Lehmkuhl, commonly incorporated into land management Ed Murphy, Ken Rosenberg, Robin Russell, Janet plans. Interest in this topic grew over the course of Ruth, Tom Sisk, and Joel Sauder. We are grateful several years during informal discussions between to the United States Forest Service for generously the editors and organizers of the Third International providing funds to support the publication of this Partners in Flight Conference in Asilomar, California volume, facilitated by Beatrice Van Horne and in 2002. Those discussions led to a half-day