Klamath Bird Observatory
$24,996  Klamath Mountains 

Oak habitats are among the richest for wildlife, but are threatened and have undergone significant losses, prompting their inclusion as an Oregon Strategy Habitat. Almost half of the 49 bird species in the Pacific Northwest highly associated with oak-prairie habitats have experienced extirpations, range contractions, and/or regional population declines. We propose to enhance our understanding of bird use of oak restoration sites, and the habitat quality they provide for oak-associated bird species. We will begin to identify potential causes of oak bird declines by nest-searching for a suite of oak-associated cavity-nesting species (Oak Titmouse, Western Bluebird, and White-breasted Nuthatch) to measure nesting pair density and productivity. We will also contribute to understanding the value of restored oak woodlands for at-risk birds by comparing nest success, productivity, and age ratios at oak sites in pre- and post-restoration stages in the Rogue Basin. The outcome of our work - to understand the quality of restored oak habitats for avifauna, and to determine whether low reproductive success could be limiting population growth - will provide the direction for the next phase of conservation actions, bolstering recovery efforts for these species of conservation concern. We lack basic information on nest success in oak habitats of varying quality for all of these study species. The general public will benefit because filling knowledge gaps for oak-associated birds could prevent further declines and provide land managers with key information necessary to develop management actions, which supports the purpose and interest of many members of the public to protect biodiversity and rare species, and participate in recreational activities like bird-watching. Funding requested from OCRF will support a Master’s student enrolled at Cal Poly Humboldt (and co-supervised by KBO) to carry out this research as part of their thesis, with an intern to assist with field work.