Pike CNHI - Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program

Birds of Pike County
Pennsylvania provides a wide range of habitats, including Great Lakes glacial wetlands and Atlantic Coast tidal
marshes, southern hardwood heaths, and northern boreal forests. Approximately 400 bird species have been
observed in the state; of these 186 regularly breed here (Pulcinella 1997). The state’s extensive forests provide
breeding habitat for many declining bird species in the Northeast and a large number of raptors and songbirds
travel along its ridgetops during spring and fall migration (Brauning 1992). Pike County contains many intact
habitats such as large forest blocks and wetlands, creating a variety of habitats available for numerous bird
species, including several species of concern.
Forest Bird Communities
Several large forest blocks occur within Pike County,
which creates habitat for interior forest species that require
large, undisturbed tracts of habitat. Two forest blocks
greater than 25,000 acres in size still occur in the county.
As forested landscapes are fragmented into smaller
patches by development, roads, and logging, many bird
populations are declining, making the large forests
especially important (Askins et al. 1991). Forest interior
species require large blocks of core or contiguous interior
forest (300 feet from an edge) in order to breed (Robbins,
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
Dawson, and Dowell 1989). Forest fragmentation negatively affects their nesting success because of increased
predation from animals that use edges for hunting and brood parasitism. Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus
ater) use perches along edge to prospect for nests of other species in which to lay their eggs (Robinson 1994).
Forest interior species include a variety of owls, hawks, woodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and warblers.
Table 7. Examples of forest interior bird species found in
Pike County
Common Name Scientific Name
Black-throated Blue Warbler Dendroica caerulescens
Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea
Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea
Worm-eating Warbler Helmitheros vermivorum
Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina
Of those species found in interior forest, several
occupy a special niche within the interior forest. The
Acadian Flycatcher, Cerulean Warbler, Louisiana
Waterthrush, and Red-shouldered Hawk all specialize
in riparian corridors and wetlands in interior forest.
These habitats, formerly common in Pennsylvania,
are being converted to other uses and habitat types at
an alarming rate. In riparian areas, floodplain forests
should be maintained by limiting harvesting within
the riparian zone per Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
aquatic habitat buffer guidelines (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/sfrmp/documents/Water_Aquatic_Buffer_
Guidelines.pdf). These forests typically have larger, older trees that provide habitat for cavity-dependent and
bark-utilizing species and provide nesting sites for raptor species and colonial waterbirds.
Whenever possible, fragmentation of large contiguous forest tracts (at least 750 acres in size) should be
avoided. Naturally uneven-aged forests with a well-developed woody and herbaceous understory should be
maintained. Care should be taken not to increase predation and parasitizing opportunities for cowbirds by
keeping roads, trails, and other disturbance corridors narrow with the edges of opening in brush or long grass
over 6 inches tall (no mowing). Dead trees, snags, and slash-piles serve many wildlife functions including
foraging sites, nesting cavities, hunting perches, and shelter and should be maintained.
Wetland Bird Communities
In Pennsylvania, 56 percent of all state bird species of concern are wetland obligate species and an even higher
percentage of species of concern use wetlands at some point during their life cycle (Gross 2002). Wetlands and
riparian zones are imperiled habitats across the state (Myers et al. 2000). From 1956-1979, 38% of
Pike County Natural Heritage Inventory – Animals of Pike County / 25
Bob Moul