Bird Census TechniquesWild birds are counted for a wide variety of reasons and by a bewildering array of methods. However, detailed descriptions of the techniques used and the rationale adopted are scattered in the literature, and the newcomer to bird census work or the experienced bird counter in search of a wider view, may well have difficulty in coming to grips with the subject as a whole. While not an end in itself, numerical and distributional census work is a fundamental part of many scientific and conservation studies, and one in which the application of given standards is vital if results are not to be distorted or applied in a misleading way. This book provides a concise guide to the various census techniques and to the opportunities and pitfalls which each entails. The common methods are described in detail, and illustrated through an abundance of diagrams showing examples of actual and theoretical census studies. Anyone with a bird census job to plan should be able to select the method best suited to the study at hand, and to apply it to best effect within the limits inherent in it and the constraints of the particular study. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology have for many years pioneered the collaboration of amateurs and professionals in various census studies. Three members of their staff, each with extensive field experience, now pool the knowledge of these investigations to lay the groundwork for sound census work in future years. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Chapter 2 Census Errors | 24 |
Chapter 3 Territory Mapping Methods | 42 |
Chapter 4 Line Transects | 66 |
Chapter 5 Point Counts | 85 |
Chapter 6 Catching and Marking | 105 |
Chapter 7 Counting Individual Species | 130 |
Chapter 8 Counting Colonial Nesting and Flocking Birds | 153 |
Chapter 9 Distribution Studies | 179 |
Chapter 10 Description and Measurement of Bird Habitat | 210 |
Scientific names of mammals and plants mentioned in the text | 240 |
| 241 | |
| 252 | |
| 255 | |
Other editions - View all
Bird Census Techniques Colin J. Bibby,Neil D. Burgess,David A. Hill,Simon Mustoe No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
abundance accurate analysis Apparently Occupied Nest-sites assess assumption atlas bias Bibby bird counts bird distribution bird species Birds Census boundaries breeding birds breeding season Britain calculated capture census Chapter clusters colony common confidence coppice counting birds counting methods counting unit defined detected difficult distance distribution studies Dunlin effort example field first fixed flocks flying Fuerteventura grassland Grey Partridge grid habitat map habitat preferences habitat variables identified individual bird km squares Lapwings Lincoln index males Manx Shearwater mapping method measured number of birds observer pairs period Pheasant point counts population estimate possible problem produce quadrats range raptors Red Grouse registrations relative densities ringing roosts routes RSPB sample plots scale seabirds selection shows shrub Song Thrush standardised Stock Dove study area study plot sufficient survey territories tetrad total number transects variation vegetation height visits waders Warbler Willow Tit Willow Warbler winter wood Wood Warblers woodland