Final Report of the Bird Inventory:

Obed Wild and Scenic River, 2003–2005 *

Stephen J. Stedman, Ph. D. ¹

Barbara H. Stedman ²

¹ Department of English and Communications
Box 5053
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN 38505

sstedman@tntech.edu

² 2675 Lakeland Dr.
Cookeville, TN 38506

birdsongteam@charter.net

* Note that some elements of this report have been changed from the original to generalize the locations of certain "sensitive" species.

Table of Contents

Lists of Figures and Tables............................................................................................................................................. iii

Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................................................iv

Executive Summary………………………………………………….......................................................……………... v

Introduction...........................…............................................................................................................................................

Description of Study Site.......…....................…............................................................................................…..........…....

Methods—Bird Inventory Techniques...........................................................................................................................….

Results...............................…….............................................................................................................................................      

Expected Species List.............……..........…......................................................................................................................

Total Species Inventoried…………………………………........................................................……………………………

Breeding Species Inventoried…………………………….......................................................…………………………….

Species Composition of the Isolated Units.....……...........................................................................................................….

Discussion.....................................................................................................................................................................…........….

Comparative Effectiveness of Survey Techniques..........................................................................…......…….............….

Influence of Weather on Results…………………….......................................................…………………………………

Description of Bird Diversity in Terms of Observed and Estimated Species Richness…………………………......

Unexpected Results..............................................................................................................................................................

Birds Not Found……………………………………….....................................................………………………………..

Recommendations for Management and Protection of Significant Habitats…….........................................................

Suitability of Habitat for Persistence of Sensitive Species………........................................................…………..……

Literature Cited.....................................................................................................................................................................

ii

List of Figures

Figure 1. Photograph of an Ovenbird near Lilly Bluff, OBRI, 29 September 2006 (Photograph: S. J. Stedman)  ………………………………........................................................................……………........................……..Cover

Figure 2. Map of the OBRI Showing the Locations of Point Count Plots……...............................................…….

List of Tables

Table 1.  Species, status, and seasonal abundance of birds observed at Obed Wild and Scenic River.…….......…

Table 2.  Results of point counts conducted at 30 stops (10 minutes each) in the OBRI during the summers of 2004 and 2005…………………………………..............................................................................................................................…..

Table 3. Most frequently encountered species, based on distribution at point counts…………………………………

Table 4. Most frequently encountered species, based on numbers of individuals recorded at point counts……..…

iii

Acknowledgments

       We thank Nancy Keohane, Resource Manager for the Obed Wild and Scenic River during the time of the bird inventory, for her continued interest in the project and her assistance in accomplishing its goals.  She gave of her time freely during many hours of discussion with Barbara H. Stedman, and she helped to overcome several minor problems encountered during the effort to inventory the birds of the park.

       Park superintendent Phillip Campbell is appreciated for his general interest in seeing the bird inventory completed and the park bird list developed for the public.  He has a good working familiarity with birds and wanted to know more about those in the park.  He was eager to assist in making the bird inventory a success.

       Chief Ranger Audie Critchley assisted BHS by providing support during many river trips to conduct general inventory work during all seasons of the year.  He was helpful by sharing sightings of birds as well.

       Ranger Matt Hudson spent many hours in all seasons paddling the parks’ rivers with BHS also.  His interest and keen eyesight made the trips pass quickly and productively.

       BHS also wishes to thank her other paddling buddies—SJS, Bill and Will Hoagland, Kent Warren, Rick Boatman, and Roger McMillan—for accompanying her on many river trips in the OBRI over the years; these trips have helped to add much knowledge about the birds of the park.

We are greatly indebted to the staff of the Center for the Management, Utilization, and Protection of Water Resources at Tennessee Technological University for high quality management of the fiscal paperwork associated with this bird inventory.  Director Dennis George, Sandra Pigg, Yvette Clark, Amy Knox and especially Glenda Sharks and Mary Williford, contributed much to our success.

Finally, we thank Robert Emmott and Nora Murdock, Appalachian Highlands Inventory and Monitoring Network, National Park Service, for their support during the time the inventory was conducted; Patrick Flaherty is also thanked for contributing the locator map in this report.

iv

Executive Summary

         Field work to inventory the birds of the OBRI from the fall of 2003 through the fall of 2005 resulted in detection of 148 species, approximately 82% of the number (180) that might maximally be present in the park during two years.  Field work consisted of a highly structured inventory method—point counts conducted at 30 sites selected for habitat diversity—and less structured methods designed to detect the maximum number of species possible during the inventory seasons—including night surveys and walking transects. 

Weather conditions during the seasons when the inventory was conducted were generally conducive to obtaining good to excellent results from the field work conducted.  Some weather factors affected the inventory in a slightly negative manner: during spring and summer 2004 and spring and summer 2005, record rainfall brought the park rivers up to high levels, causing much water noise and limiting ability to hear birdsong; weather during fall 2003, fall 2004, and fall 2005 lacked strong frontal passages that act to concentrate migrating birds; and weather during each winter of the inventory was warmer than average, limiting the presence of boreal irruptives; mast production during the second winter of the inventory was poor, reducing numbers of wintering birds.

Several species were added to the park bird list during the inventory, including Barn Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, and Connecticut Warbler. Changes in the park’s forests resulting from an outbreak of pine beetles have probably caused changes in the avifauna, especially among shrub-scrub obligates; some of these increased in population density following the outbreak but decreased as the replacement forest in the park matured. The population of Swainson’s Warbler in the park appears stable.  Few Cerulean Warblers were found, and no trend for the park population of that species could be determined.

v

Final Report of the Bird Inventory: Obed Wild and Scenic River, 2003-2005

Introduction

            The Obed Wild and Scenic River (OBRI)--authorized by Congress in 1976 to preserve one of the most rugged and scenic river systems in the southeastern United States and recommended in 2005 to become an Important Bird Area in Tennessee under the auspices of Partners in Flight and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA)--is located in Cumberland and Morgan counties, Tennessee.  Including 73 linear km (45 mi) of the Obed River and its major tributaries, Daddy’s Creek and Clear Creek, as well as a short stretch of the Emory River, the park contains the only federally designated Wild and Scenic River in Tennessee and lies on the Cumberland Plateau about 80 km (50 mi) west of Knoxville.  The park visitor center is situated in Wartburg, the county seat of Morgan County.  Major access points to the park may be reached from the east via Wartburg or from the south via Rt. 298 in Crossville.

The purpose of this study was to

• document at least 90% of the birds reasonably expected to occur in the park;
• conduct structured inventories using a statistically valid study design involving 1-hectare circular plots placed in different vegetative community types;
• describe the distribution and, if possible, relative abundance of

           species of special concern in the OBRI; and

• provide baseline information on the distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of bird populations in the park.

Description of Study Site

            Elevation in the OBRI (Figure 2) ranges from 260 m (850 ft) in the bottom of the gorge near Nemo to 550 m (1800 ft) along the gorge rim in the western parts of the park; the park covers 2073 hectares (5122 acres).

            The rivers and creeks of the park are pool-drop in nature, situated in the bottoms of deep gorges, characterized by the

                                    Figure 2. Map of the OBRI showing the locations of point count plots.

presence of very large boulders and undercut ledges, set off by waterfalls that sometimes drop from the gorge rim, and distinctively marked by numerous difficult (Class III-IV) rapids.  As a result of this combination of features, the park’s designation as a “wild and scenic” river is truly accurate.  Water level in these undammed waterways varies depending on rainfall from a slow trickle during most summer months to raging torrents during times of heavy rainfall (mainly during fall, winter, and spring) when the water level in the rivers may rise 8 m (25 ft) in a few hours.

            The boundaries of the park are usually parallel to its rivers and seldom extend more than a few hundred meters from the rivers’ edges, leaving little room for development of facilities, but in a few areas the park reaches 1.6 km (1 mi) in width.  One such area is located at the Lilly Bluff where a disability accessible boardwalk approaches a spectacular overlook of the Clear Creek gorge and riverbed.  Visitors can see, by viewing the rock layers of the gorge walls, how time, water, and weather have created the 150-m (500-ft) deep gorge through the Pennsylvanian sandstone caprock and Pennsylvanian shale beneath. The riverbed is littered with large, sometimes house-sized, sandstone boulders that contribute to the creation of many difficult rapids that are a significant feature of this river system.

            Forest cover along the rivers of the OBRI has experienced logging in the past despite limited access into their gorges.  However, logging in the park in the past did not eliminate all old trees: two cedars 800-900 years old have been located, while oaks in excess of 200 years old and hickories in excess of 300 years old have been found along Clear Creek.  However, general forest clearing in the past left few areas of the park with extensive old-growth forest; the few pockets of such forest are mainly located on very steep, rocky terrain.  Alder and river birch dominate riparian areas, and wherever a seep or stream converges at the riverside, dense vegetation is usually present. Various forest types occur along the upper gorge walls with hemlock and rhododendron dominant on the north and east slopes and with oaks, hickories, and cedars dominating on the hotter, drier sides of the canyons. The gorge rims are characterized by thin, sandy soils that create xeric conditions often harboring evergreen forests of various types and/or dense thickets of scrubby vegetation.  Many pines along the rims were lost to damage from southern pine beetles from 2000-2003, but a surprising number of pines escaped damage; in addition many sites damaged by beetles regenerated at an amazing rate, and during the inventory such areas often had a very dense thicket of pine cover 2-4 m in height.

            There are no agricultural, wetland, or large grassland areas within the OBRI, and there is little scrub-shrub habitat.  Park-like areas, widely-spaced trees with a grassy or otherwise open understory, have been created or maintained as picnic areas at four access points along Clear Creek and the Emory River.  A primitive campground at Rock Creek and an unofficial primitive campsite at Barnett Bridge offer a little habitat diversity as well.

            Some factors that inhibited the bird inventory of the park include the following:

• Very limited road access is available in the OBRI, requiring inventory efforts on foot in large parts of the park;
• Access to areas of the OBRI along the upper Obed River and Daddy’s Creek is forbidden by hunting regulations in the Catoosa WMA during most week-ends and during some week days from October to January and from April through mid-May, and access is completely forbidden during nearly all of February and March, greatly limiting the gathering of bird data in about one-third of the park during those periods;
• Access via hiking is limited by very steep terrain at many sites, with bushwhacking a necessity to gain access to many sites because few trails exist along many stretches of the rivers of the park;
• Noise from rapids was often very loud during high-water conditions, limiting the ability to hear birds (less a problem during breeding season than other seasons, but still a problem);
• Access to the river by canoe was available (except in the Catoose WMA as previously noted), but often not during the height of the breeding season when water level in the rivers was too low to allow canoe entry; when water was available at this season, it was often too high to be safely canoeable.

            Access points to the rivers of the park are limited; we will discuss several of them, as follows: Lilly Bluff, the Devil’s Breakfast Table, and Nemo.

            The Lilly Bluff access point features an unusual sandstone bluff that harbors a few shallow pools and many endangered and unusual plants, including dwarf Virginia pines. It is a good place to find birds because the overlook allows good viewing opportunities to an area that is attractive to migrating birds, as well as to many species of breeding birds, depending on season; it is probably the best site in the park to watch for migrating raptors and Sandhill Cranes (during late fall and early winter).  A number of hiking trails radiate from the Lilly Bluff area.  Some are short, easy trails often used by rock-climbers.  The longest is the 4-km (2.5-mi) Point Trail that leads out to the confluence of the Obed River and Clear Creek. The Point Trail passes through boulder fields, old forest, dry gorge rim, and rock house sites.  During breeding season the area around the Point Trail is used by a variety of birds including many Neotropical migrants; this trail is one of the best places in the park to see Ruffed Grouse (all year) and groups of passerines (during migration seasons).

            An access point to the part of the park known as the Devil’s Breakfast Table (DBT) occurs on Daddy’s Creek.  Besides its river access, this site is also near access to the Cumberland Trail, which runs for 22 km (14 mi) from DBT to Nemo (see next paragraph), paralleling the Daddy’s Creek and the Obed River most of the way; there are numerous scenic overlooks of OBRI along marked side trails; a stretch (4 km [2.5 mi]) of the Cumberland Trail lies within the park, starting at Alley Ford on the Obed River and ending near Nemo.  This is the only section of the trail that is open when the Catoosa WMA is closed.

            The Nemo area is located about 11 km (7 mi) from Wartburg and is one of the most visited sites within the park.  It includes a major take-out for whitewater boaters, and it offers a large picnic area (with public swimming area).  Located on the Emory River about 1.6 km (1 mi) downstream from the confluence of the Obed and Emory rivers, it also includes the Rock Creek primitive campground, as well as trailheads for several hiking trails and footpaths.  The entire site can be quite attractive to birds year-round.

            A few other access points to the park occur at bridges over the rivers and creeks; two of these where some birding can be undertaken are the Barnett access point and the Jett access point, both on Clear Creek.

            Within the authorized boundaries, the OBRI shares a common boundary with the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area along most areas south of Clear Creek and on both sides of the Obed River and Daddy’s Creek.  Hunting and trapping are allowed on park property during TWRA scheduled hunts except in posted public areas.  There is no access to the OBRI property from the Catoosa WMA during hunting periods; this includes no use of the Cumberland Trail at these times (and there is no camping along the trail allowed at any time).

            A considerable amount of private land borders the OBRI.  In recent times, a landowner in the area, Bowater, has sold large tracts formerly dedicated to silviculture on the OBRI boundaries along Clear Creek and the Obed River.  Eventually, development of this land may affect the wildlife of the park, including its birds, as a result of forest fragmentation or large-scale clearing up to the park’s boundary.  Additionally, private property owners have impounded streams flowing into the OBRI watershed to create over 3000 ponds and some small lakes that likely have an effect on wildlife in the rivers, especially during periods of drought.

Methods--Bird Inventory Techniques

            Point counts were the most regimented method of collecting bird data at this NPS unit.  Thirty point counts were conducted during June in each of two years, 2004 and 2005.  The protocol for these counts entailed standing at the center of a 100-meter diameter plot and counting all birds heard and seen for 10 minutes; birds were recorded as occurring at one of four distance intervals (< 25 m; 25-50 m; 50-100 m; and >100 m) or as flyovers; birds were also recorded as occurring within one of three temporal intervals (0-3 min; 3-5 min; 5-10 min) (Hamel 1992; Hamel et al. 1996).  Any birds flushed during approach to the plot center were included among the birds recorded at the point.  Birds believed to have been already counted at a one point were not counted if detected at an adjacent point.  All birds seen or heard were recorded on a special point count data form.  All point count data are provided in a supplemental Excel file included with this report, as well as summarized below (Appendix A: Table 2).

            Most of the plots for point counts were derived from plots randomly selected by NatureServe, but about a dozen plots had to be moved in order to avoid problems counting birds, including moving some plot centers from the middle of river courses and moving some plot centers so that they would be at least 250 m from the next nearest plot center.

            A second method used to gather data about the birds of this site was the migration walk, conducted during each migration season of each year of the inventory.  During spring and fall, these walks were conducted 3-4 times per season.  The walks typically lasted 1-2 hours and covered a distance of about 1.5 km through habitat considered to have potential for harboring migrant birds.  All species seen or heard were recorded on a standard field card, on which was also noted the route for the migration walk; no GPS coordinates for these walks were obtained.

            A third method used to gather data about the birds of the site was the raptor survey.  These surveys were undertaken during fall and early winter.  Typically, the survey lasted 2-4 hours during late morning.  Since roads within the park are extremely limited, a stationary raptor survey was conducted rather than a driving survey.  A site with good visibility—Lilly Bluff—was selected and raptors scanned for during a day when weather conditions suggested a raptor flight might be expected. .  All raptors detected were included in the resulting data.  All species seen or heard were recorded on a standard field card.

            A fourth method of gathering bird data at this site was the night survey, a somewhat informal method entailing the use of tape-recorded owl calls to elicit responses from owls at the site. These surveys were conducted during each year of the inventory; the areas covered by night surveys were described on field cards but not GPSed. Besides owls, nightjars were also detected by night surveys during summer and woodcocks at all seasons.  All species seen or heard were recorded on a standard field card, sometimes in conjunction with data obtained using the following method.

            The fifth and last method of obtaining bird data at this site was the general inventory, conducted in each year of the inventory; these efforts involved less regimented efforts to visit many promising sites within this NPS unit during the course of a day and to keep track of all species sighted.  During the breeding period for birds, which includes most of the spring and summer, the general inventory included efforts to detect breeding evidence of for all species breeding in the unit.  As part of the general inventory effort in the park, numerous canoe surveys were made on all rivers and large creeks of the park during fall, winter, and spring; in addition, about 4 km (2.5 mi) of Clear Creek above Barnett Bridge was inventoried by wading and swimming during low-water conditions in June. All species seen or heard and all breeding evidence observed during general inventory effort were recorded on a standard field card; the locations covered by the general inventory were noted on a daily field card, but the sites were not GPSed.

            Data obtained during migration walks, raptor surveys, night surveys, and general inventory surveys are provided in a supplemental Excel file submitted with this report.

Results

Expected Species List

             A large park located just to the north of the OBRI and sharing many of its physiographic features is the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BISO).  About 180 species of birds have been recorded within the boundaries of the BISO (Stedman and Stedman 2002; S. Stedman website and pers. data), making the bird list for that park the best source of species expected to occur within the OBRI.         

Total Species Inventoried

During the inventory period, Barbara Stedman made visits to the OBRI on a total of 66 days during all seasons of the year (13 days during two spring seasons; 18 during two summer seasons; 23 during three fall seasons; and 12 during two winter seasons).  In the course of these visits she observed 147 species (Appendix A: Table 1) by one or more of the methods described above.  One additional species—Connecticut Warbler—was recorded by another observer—David J. Trently—during the inventory period. The total of 148 species detected during the two-year inventory represents 82% of the 180 species expected to occur within the unit.

Breeding Species Inventoried

            Evidence of breeding by species using the unit was divided into three categories: possible evidence; probable evidence; and confirmed evidence (cf. Nicholson 1997). In all, 85 species (Appendix A: Table 1) were placed in one of these categories, including 9 (11%) possible breeders, 22 (26%) probable breeders, and 54 (63%) confirmed breeders.

            Point counts were conducted during the breeding period of many species. A total of 64 species was registered during point counts conducted during 2004, while 72 species were detected during point counts conducted in 2005.  In all, point count effort led to data for 76 species of birds (Appendix A: Table 2), all of which use OBRI during the breeding season. Data from the point counts are provided in a supplemental Excel file submitted in conjunction with this report.

Species Composition as it Relates to Land Area and Habitat Diversity

Generally speaking, the larger and more diverse in habitat a site is, the larger the number of bird species that will be found in it.  This rule of thumb was generally borne out by the data obtained during this survey; i.e., the OBRI is a moderate-sized site that harbors a moderate-sized array of bird species.  Besides it moderate size, the rather restricted number of habitat types available in the park is also responsible for its moderate-sized avifauna.

Discussion

Comparative Effectiveness of Survey Techniques

Each of the five survey techniques used for this inventory was effective for its purpose, but in terms of generating the largest number of species per unit of time expended, the general inventory was probably the most effective, followed by the migration walk and the point count (for breeding species only).  Due to their restricted emphasis, night surveys and raptor surveys generated fewer species per unit of time expended.

Influence of Weather on Results

An effort was made to visit OBRI during periods when the weather was conducive for registering the maximum number of species during general inventory work, migration walks, point counts, night surveys, and raptor surveys, so the influence of weather on the results of the overall inventory was generally positive, but some caveats follow.

During the first spring and summer of the inventory period (March-June 2004) record rainfall and very high water in the entire river system took place. These conditions limited the ability to hear birdsong (at about 15 of the 30 plots for point counts); even at Lilly Bluff, sites 0.4 km (0.25 mi) from the Clear Creek were too noisy to hear birds out to 100 m.  Species nesting in riparian habitat were especially likely to be undercounted under these conditions.

The second spring and summer of the inventory also witnessed greater than normal rainfall, again affecting the ability to inventory birds effectively. Additionally, two wet growing seasons in a row caused vegetation growth to spurt, some pines growing 1.75 m (5 ft) in 2 seasons; such growth rates caused many shrub-scrub sites to outgrow that successional stage and become young forest quickly, reducing numbers of species dependent on early shrub-scrub stages of vegetation.

Fall weather during each year of the inventory was characterized by an absence of really strong cold fronts that are necessary to cause groups of passerines and raptors to “set down” and be easy to see and count.

Each winter of the inventory period was warmer than “average”; additionally, neither winter produced an irruption event of most boreal species; finally, the second winter of the inventory experienced a poor mast crop in the entire area around the OBRI.  Each of these factors limited the presence of some species and lowered the numbers of those that were present.  Little snow cover occurred during either winter of the inventory, but this factor probably aided the inventory effort.

Description of Bird Diversity in Terms of Observed and Estimated Species Richness

            A fairly good estimate of the bird diversity in the park was available to us prior to the inventory because we had visited it many times; in particular, B. Stedman, besides making many visits to the park at all seasons, had conducted point count surveys of the breeding birds in the park for six years prior to the inventory.  Results of the inventory confirmed earlier estimates of bird diversity; i.e., the park’s avifauna is moderately diverse overall, but its diversity of breeding Neotropical migrant songbirds is quite high, stemming from the mostly undisturbed character of the park’s forested habitats; see Stedman and Stedman (2002) for a discussion of this matter.

Unexpected Results

            Except for Wood Duck, few species of ducks have been recorded in the OBRI in the past, so migrant Buffleheads foraging on Clear Creek were a pleasant surprise during the spring of 2004.

            During three seasons of the inventory, sightings of Bald Eagles took place in the OBRI.  Since this species nests at nearby Watts Bar Lake, the sightings in the OBRI, a fairly new circumstance in the history of the park, suggest that the national bird may one day nest in the park; certainly habitat for nesting and food resources are present in the park.

            A territorial Sharp-shinned Hawk at a nest was unexpected but probably long overdue, given the large amount of good breeding habitat found in the park.

            An adult Cooper’s Hawk being chased by a fledgling Cooper’s Hawk during the summer of 2005 provided an unexpected first summer and breeding record for the park.

            Not included in the overall results of the inventory, but considered to be at least plausible, was the sighting of a Golden Eagle by Ranger Audie Critchley during June 2005.  The timing of this sighting was certainly most unexpected, though the bird may have been an immature wandering in search of a nesting site prior to becoming territorial.

Sightings of Merlin (during spring) and Peregrine Falcon (during fall) in the park during the course of the bird inventory were probably long overdue but nonetheless somewhat unexpected.

The first OBRI record for Barn Owl was unexpectedly made during the first winter of the inventory.

Quite unexpected was the Northern Saw-whet Owl found during the second winter of the inventory.  B. Stedman had played tapes of this owl’s vocalizations about 100 times at a multitude of sites prior to eliciting a response from this owl, which was probably the only saw-whet that has ever been found on the Cumberland Plateau outside of the BISO.

Some scarce and somewhat unexpected migrant species that were recorded in the OBRI for the first time during the inventory were Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, and Connecticut Warbler; an uncommon wintering species precluded from using the park because of its dependence on grassland and other open habitats was the American Pipit, recorded at least twice as a flyover during the inventory.

            The Wood Thrush was determined to breed in the park in densities that were unexpectedly high, especially by comparison with densities experienced by B. Stedman in areas outside the park but fairly nearby; the highest densities were recorded in large hemlock thickets at riparian sites.

            Swainson’s Warblers were found to breed in relatively high density in the park, perhaps as much as, or slightly more than, one pair per 1.6 km (1 mi) of optimal habitat—mature rhododendron thickets often with other thick understory vegetation growing near large hemlocks in riparian areas along the rivers and creeks of the park. This density is probably higher than the density of this species anywhere else on the Cumberland Plateau; it probably equals or exceeds the density of this species in the eastern mountains of Tennessee; and it possibly equals or exceeds the species’ density at many sites in west Tennessee. 

Birds Not Found

            Despite much searching for an Osprey nest in the park during the inventory, no such nest could be found for the first time in several years.  During the first summer of the inventory, an adult Osprey acted territorially and remained for several weeks during late spring before leaving the area.

            Because the OBRI is a largely forested area, the Brown-headed Cowbird, a nest parasite, was found during breeding season in the park in quite small numbers (Appendix A: Table 2), indicating that it probably does not have much effect on the populations of Neotropical migrants that breed in the park.  Similarly, the European Starling, an exotic species, was present in fairly small numbers and at very few sites in the park, indicating that it probably does not compete much for nest sites with other cavity-nesting species, especially woodpeckers, at the present time. No House Sparrows, another exotic species, were detected during the inventory.

Recommendations for Management and Protection of Significant Habitats

            The Swainson’s Warbler, a species of special concern, has apparently abandoned several former breeding sites in the park in recent years in response to human disturbances.  These disturbances include campers who have removed rhododendron and other vegetation to make larger camping areas, heavy ATV use, and trampling of vegetation near breeding sites.  We recommend that

• surveys for Swainson’s Warblers be conducted at former breeding sites in late April and early May each year; and that

• when Swainson’s Warblers are found at these sites, signs be posted and, if necessary, barriers erected to prevent access to the breeding sites by ATVs and campers.

If removal of vegetation and access by ATVs can be prevented, these sites should once again become productive breeding sites for Swainson’s Warblers.        The Cerulean Warbler, another species of special concern, has been irregular in the OBRI in the past, with perhaps one singing male being detected on average each breeding season.  This species prefers forested sites with an open understory and with hickory, tulip poplar, and walnut trees present; it often appears in the aftermath of wind-caused blowdowns and wildfires.  Cerulean Warblers sometimes use dry hillsides with pine cover; they were noted in this habitat during two recent years, but not during the inventory. We recommend

• an annual or at least bi-annual survey be conducted for Cerulean Warblers during late April and early May, to cover the sites noted above at least.

Wherever possible in the OBRI, we recommend maintenance of shrub-scrub habitat, which provides adult songbirds with a place to molt prior to migration; it also provides fledgling songbirds of many species, including forest interior species, with a place to forage and avoid predation. 

• Anytime the park maintenance personnel can provide shrub-scrub habitat by letting wildfires burn, by bush-hogging sites about to grow into young forest, or by controlled burns, many bird species, including some such as Prairie Warbler that are decreasing continentally, and other forms of wildlife would benefit.
• Planting of native grasses, rather than exotic species like crown vetch, is recommended at any sites where erosion control is needed, including under bridges, such as at Nemo, and along roadsides.

Literature Cited

Hamel, P. B.  1992. The Land Manager’s Guide to Birds of the South. The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Forest Service, Atlanta, Georgia.

Hamel, P. B., W. P. Smith, D. J. Twedt, J. R. Woehr, E. Morris, R. B. Hamilton, and R. J. Cooper. 1996. A Land Manager’s Guide to Point Counts of Birds in the Southeast. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-120. New Orleans, LA: U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 39 pp.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Stedman, S. J.  Website: http://iweb.tntech.edu/sstedman/BSFNRRA--CentralNode.htm. Accessed 10 August 2006.

Stedman, S. J., and B. H. Stedman. 2002. Notes on the Birds of the Big South Fork National River and  Recreation Area and Obed National Wild and Scenic River. Privately printed, Cookeville, Tennessee, 146 + viii pp.

Appendix A

Table 1.  Species, status, and seasonal abundance of birds observed at Obed Wild and Scenic River; species names in lightface type were not recorded during the inventory but are known to have occurred in the park in the past.  * = possible breeding evidence noted; ** = probable breeding evidence noted; *** = confirmed breeding evidence noted. #  Key to abbreviations: PR = permanent resident; SR = summer resident; TR = transient; VR = visitor; UN = Unknown; WR = winter resident; C = common; FC = fairly common; U = uncommon; VU = very uncommon; R = rare. See Stedman and Stedman (2002: 30) for definitions of these categories; see Stedman and Stedman (2002: 111-113) for breeding species that are Neotropical migrants.

#    The highest degree of breeding evidence noted during the season is also provided for all species. Codes for breeding evidence follow (a date is provided with codes for probable and confirmed breeding):

        Possible Breeders (*):

            X = present during the season

        Probable Breeders (**):

            T = territorial (present at same site on dates at least a week apart)
            P = pair
            A = agitated behavior (presumably near nest or young)
            C = courtship or copulation

        Confirmed Breeders (***):

            DD = distraction display
            CN = adult carrying nest material
            NB = adult building nest
            UN = used nest
            FY = adult carrying food for young
            BG = begging young
            FL = fledged young
            FS = fecal sac removed from nest by adult
            ON = adult on nest incubating
            NE = nest with eggs
            NY = nest with young

Table 2.  Summary of results of point counts conducted at 30 stops (10 minutes each) in the OBRI during the summers of 2004 and 2005. Greater detail about the results of these point counts is provided in the Excel file that supplements this report. Inds = Individuals.