Birds of Putnam County, Tennessee: Appendix I, Table 8: Winter Bird Population Study (WBPS) Results for Putnam County
A Winter Bird Population Study (WBPS) is a standardized bird census conducted at many sites across North America during the period from December through February. Participants count all birds seen and heard for a fairly uniform period of time during morning hours on ten or more dates during the winter months on a plot of 10 to 40 ha (25 to 100 acres); usually the plot contains uniform habitat throughout, but some WBPSs are conducted on plots featuring a mixture of habitats. Each participating observer censuses a plot by walking a repeatable route that allows access to all parts of the plot. Results take the form of the average number of individuals for each species registered during the dates when coverage takes place; before 1990 the results were rounded off to the nearest whole number; during the 1990s results were presented to the nearest 0.1 individuals. Results of WBPSs were published in Audubon Field Notes (later American Birds) for a number of decades through the mid-1980s; The Journal of Field Ornithology then published results for nearly a decade from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s; since then results have been available only on request from the Resident Bird Counts Program of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
Winter Bird Population Studies have been conducted at two sites in Putnam County: Barnes Hollow, located on Macedonia Rd. about midway between Cookeville and Monterey at an elevation of c. 485 m (1600 ft) on the escarpment between the Highland Rim and the Cumberland Plateau; and City Lake Natural Area, located on City Lake, an impoundment of the Falling Water River, southeast of Cookeville on the Highland Rim at an elevation of 285 m (950 ft). The habitat at the Barnes Hollow plot features mixed woods, fields, and brush; the habitat of the plot at the City Lake Natural Area is a deciduous-coniferous forest with a stream (Note: the habitat at this site changed considerably following the loss of most pines in the early 2000s as a result of an outbreak of southern pine beetle).
At least nine WBPSs were conducted on a 27-ha (66.7-acre) plot at Barnes Hollow by Richard W. Simmers, Jr., during the following winters (data from bold-faced, labeled WBPSs presented in Table 8):
Five WBPSs were conducted on a 10.2-ha (25.5-acre) plot at City Lake Natural Area by Stephen J. Stedman and Barbara H. Stedman, during the following winters (data from bold-faced, labeled WBPSs presented in Table 8):
The data from these two WBPSs provide a "snapshot" of the winter avifauna (71 species) found at these sites—and many sites with similar characteristics in Putnam County. For the sake of comparison, data from a period of half a decade are used below (Table 8) to reveal the winter bird community found at each of these sites, but it should be recognized that data were collected during additional winters at the Barnes Hollow plot.
Table 8. Winter Bird Population Studies results from Barnes Hollow and City Lake Natural Area for 71 species. Data in columns A–E indicate the average number of individuals/trip (rounded off; a + instead of a number indicates fewer than 0.5 individuals/trip) occurring on a 27-ha plot at Barnes Hollow, while data in columns F–J indicate the average number of individuals/trip (with the figure in parentheses indicating the number of visits on which the species was registered) on a 10.2-ha plot at City Lake Natural Area.
| Species | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
| Number of Visits to Plot | 22 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Ave. Length of Visits (Hr) | 3.62 | 2.95 | 3.41 | 3.80 | 3.45 | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.45 | 1.52 | 1.40 |
| Canada Goose | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.7 (1) | 4.9 (3) |
| Wood Duck | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.2 (1) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Black Duck | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.3 (1) | -- | -- | -- | 0.5 (1) |
| Mallard | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.5 (1) |
| Canvasback | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Hooded Merganser | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.5 (1) | -- | 2.2 (4) |
| Ruffed Grouse | + | + | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Pied-billed Grebe | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.5 (3) |
| Rock Pigeon | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3.1 (5) | 1.3 (4) | 1.4 (3) | 3.1 (5) | 0.2 (1) |
| Mourning Dove | + | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 1.6 (8) | 1.7 (7) | 1.5 (5) | 1.1 (6) | 3.4 (8) |
| Wilson's Snipe | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Woodcock | -- | -- | -- | + | 1 | 0.4 (2) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Great Blue Heron | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.4 (4) | 0.9 (7) | 0.2 (2) | 0.5 (5) |
| Green Heron | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Turkey Vulture | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | -- | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | 0.2 (2) | 0.1 (1) | -- | 0.1 (1) |
| Cooper's Hawk | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.3 (3) | 0.2 (2) | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- |
| Red-tailed Hawk | + | + | + | + | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) |
| Great Horned Owl | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- |
| Belted Kingfisher | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.6 (6) | 0.8 (6) | 0.8 (7) | 0.5 (5) | 0.7 (6) |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 (4) | 0.8 (8) | 1.7 (9) | 1.0 (8) | 0.7 (6) |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | -- | + | -- | + | + | 0.3 (2) | -- | 0.7 (5) | 0.2 (2) | 0.1 (1) |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.8 (9) | 1.7 (9) | 3.1 (10) | 2.3 (10) | 1.1 (8) |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | 0.1 (1) | 0.1 (1) | 0.3 (3) | 0.5 (4) | 0.4 (3) |
| Northern Flicker | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 (4) | 0.1 (1) | 0.6 (5) | 0.7 (4) | 0.7 (7) |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 0.1 (1) | -- | 0.2 (2) | -- | -- |
| American Kestrel | + | + | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Phoebe | -- | + | + | + | 1 | 0.5 (5) | 0.5 (5) | 0.8 (7) | 0.9 (8) | 0.6 (6) |
| Loggerhead Shrike | + | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Blue Jay | 1 | 2 | + | 1 | 5 | 2.6 (10) | 0.7 (6) | 2.8 (9) | 2.4 (10) | 2.8 (10) |
| American Crow | + | 1 | 1 | 3 | + | 0.3 (2) | 1.0 (7) | 0.7 (3) | 0.8 (5) | 0.7 (4) |
| Carolina Chickadee | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 5.2 (10) | 5.1 (10) | 4.3 (10) | 3.6 (10) | 4.0 (10) |
| Tufted Titmouse | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5.9 (10) | 4.0 (10) | 6.6 (10) | 3.7 (10) | 4.7 (10) |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | -- | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | 1 | 2 | + | 2 | 1.3 (10) | 1.9 (10) | 1.5 (10) | 1.7 (10) | 1.1 (8) |
| Brown Creeper | 1 | + | 1 | + | 1 | 0.1 (1) | 0.1 (1) | 0.7 (7) | -- | -- |
| House Wren | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Winter Wren | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | 0.4 (4) | 0.6 (6) | 0.1 (1) | 0.6 (6) | 0.5 (5) |
| Carolina Wren | + | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3.0 (10) | 3.4 (10) | 3.0 (10) | 2.2 (10) | 1.7 (10) |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 2 | + | 1 | + | 3 | 1.0 (5) | 1.2 (9) | 0.5 (4) | 1.4 (9) | 0.6 (3) |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | + | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | 0.4 (4) | 0.8 (5) |
| Eastern Bluebird | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0.9 (6) | 0.1 (1) | 0.4 (3) | -- | 1.1 (5) |
| Hermit Thrush | + | + | -- | 1 | 1 | 0.3 (3) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Robin | 2 | 11 | 3 | 27 | + | 0.9 (7) | -- | 0.8 (6) | -- | -- |
| Northern Mockingbird | -- | -- | -- | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Brown Thrasher | -- | 1 | -- | + | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) |
| European Starling | -- | 23 | -- | 20 | 1 | 4.9 (7) | 2.4 (2) | 8.4 (7) | 4.7 (8) | 6.8 (8) |
| Cedar Waxwing | -- | 3 | 2 | 7 | -- | 0.2 (1) | -- | 0.3 (1) | -- | -- |
| House Finch | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 29.7 (10) | 4.5 (9) | 40.7 (9) | 5.6 (7) | 1.8 (8) |
| Purple Finch | 7 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 15 | 1.5 (5) | 0.1 (1) | 0.1 (1) | -- | 0.1 (1) |
| Pine Siskin | -- | -- | + | -- | -- | 1.1 (8) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Goldfinch | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 1.4 (9) | 4.0 (9) | 1.5 (9) | 1.8 (9) | 4.2 (9) |
| Eastern Towhee | + | 3 | -- | 7 | 2 | 0.4 (4) | 1.1 (7) | 1.7 (8) | 0.8 (6) | 0.9 (6) |
| Chipping Sparrow | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- |
| Field Sparrow | 14 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 1.0 (2) | 1.9 (2) | 1.7 (5) | 1.0 (4) | 0.9 (2) |
| Fox Sparrow | + | + | 1 | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.2 (2) |
| Song Sparrow | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.9 (10) | 2.3 (9) | 2.8 (10) | 2.6 (10) | 2.1 (9) |
| Swamp Sparrow | + | + | -- | -- | -- | 0.4 (3) | 0.7 (5) | 0.8 (5) | 0.6 (4) | 0.1 (1) |
| White-crowned Sparrow | -- | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| White-throated Sparrow | 4 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 8 | 0.5 (3) | 2.0 (7) | 5.0 (9) | 4.6 (7) | 3.4 (10) |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 7 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | 0.1 (1) | -- |
| Red-winged Blackbird | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | 0.7 (5) | 0.1 (1) | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.2 (2) | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | - |
| Rusty Blackbird | -- | + | -- | + | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Common Grackle | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 0.9 (1) | -- | -- |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 1 | 1 | + | 6 | 1 | 16.8 (10) | 2.4 (10) | 5.0 (10) | 3.0 (10) | 3.1 (9) |
| Pine Warbler | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Cardinal | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 5.7 (10) | 5.4 (10) | 4.6 (10) | 3.0 (10) | 5.4 (10) |
| Indigo Bunting | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 (1) | -- |
| Total Species | 36 | 40 | 33 | 38 | 34 | 46 | 35 | 41 | 34 | 43 |
A valuable feature of WBPSs is that the plots on which they are conducted may also be used as plots for Breeding Bird Censuses (BBCs), another standardized census, to be undertaken during the breeding season. Both the plot at Barnes Hollow and the plot at City Lake Natural Area were used for BBCs, as well as WBPSs. Some data from the BBCs conducted on these plots may be viewed at a page accessible via the following link:
Literature Cited:
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