A Four-year Summary of Breeding Bird Surveys in TFL 48 ... - BIOD

associations, as well as BEC subzone preference, are provided by Vernier (2005) andVernier and Bunnell (In press).STUDY AREA & METHODSMethodology for the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) was adapted from Sen (1981)and Bystrak (1981) and further modified to include habitat, weather, and noise-relatedvariables for each survey station. Each BBS transect but two (Wolverine = 25, Sikanni =45) had 50 survey stations, spaced approximately 800 m apart. During surveys, twotransects (Gwillim = 25, Haystack = 44) were shortened for logistic reasons. Surveyscommenced at sunrise and generally lasted four to five hours. Each survey station wassurveyed for three minutes, with all birds seen and heard recorded. Transects weredesigned to cover as much of the variation in forested habitats available in CanadianForest Products Ltd. lands of TFL 48 and the Fort St. John TSA. However, because oflimited road access, variability in terrain, private lands, and gated roadways, transectscould not be assigned using a randomized procedure. Instead, transects wereassociated with logging roads that were suitable for summer access with a 4x4 vehicle.On some transects a few survey stations were situated on paved highways for thepurpose of sampling shorter logging roads, but maintaining consistent sampling effort.Each observed bird was assigned to one of two distance classes:1) ≤ 50 m (for bird density calculations); and2) 51 – 200 m (as suggested by Bibby et al. (1992) for moderately dense forest withregular openings and relatively low canopy height).In addition to bird observations from each point, estimates of forest structure (i.e., standage, species composition, and understory), weather, and noise were also made. For the3