Results of a Bird Inventory in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Kentucky and Tennessee, May through July 2004

 

Under contract with the National Park Service, Barbara (BHS) and Stephen Stedman (SJS) conducted a bird inventory of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BSFNRRA).  The inventory, focused on breeding and wintering species of this National Park Service (NPS) unit, covered the 2003 and 2004 breeding seasons, as well as the winters of 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.  The following species were given particular attention:

Short-eared Owl (winter)
Whip-poor-will (summer)
Red-headed Woodpecker (winter and summer)
Blue-winged Warbler (summer)
Golden-winged Warbler (summer)
Prairie Warbler (summer)
Cerulean Warbler (summer)
Swainson's Warbler (summer)
Louisiana Waterthrush (summer)
Kentucky Warbler (summer)

   If you have data about any bird species noted above or not noted in the table below for either the breeding or wintering season, even if from a year prior to 2003, please contact us at the following e-mail address with the particulars of the sighting, including as accurate a date as possible:

                sstedman@tntech.edu

    SJS conducted various surveys to inventory the breeding birds of the park on the following dates during the 2004 breeding season: 3, 5, 7-11, 14-18 June.  Results of 36 point counts (14-18 June) of 10 minutes each selected to reflect six habitats within the park, along with results of a 100-stop roadside breeding bird survey (7, 9-11 June), are provided in the table below.

    Codes for breeding evidence follow (a date is provided with codes for probable and confirmed breeding):

        Possible Breeders:

            X = present

        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

    A checklist of the birds of the BSFNRRA is available at this link:

   The following table summarizes bird inventory work in the BSFNRRA during the 2004 breeding season (mid-May to late July). Species denoted with a lower-case "x" in the second column were detected at some time during the season by one of several survey methods employed.  Species in red were detected in the park during the 2004, but not the 2003, breeding season in the park; species without data were not detected during 2004 but were detected during 2003.

Species Miscell.
Birding		 10-Min Pt. Counts (36) 5-Min BBS Stops (100)
Breeding 

Stops

 Individuals Stops Individuals Evidence
Canada Goose x

FL 06-15
Wood Duck
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey x 1 1 1 1
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture x
Red-shouldered Hawk x 5 6 5 6
Broad-winged Hawk x 2 2 2 2
Red-tailed Hawk x 1 1
Killdeer x 1 1
American Woodcock x
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove x 3 3 9 10
Yellow-billed Cuckoo x 16 17 46 54
Eastern Screech-Owl
Barred Owl x
Whip-poor-will x 1 1 2 5
Chimney Swift x 2 2 3 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird x 4 4 2 2
Belted Kingfisher x 1 2
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker x 2 2 5 7
Downy Woodpecker x 8 9 5 5
Hairy Woodpecker x 2 3 5 7
Northern Flicker x 3 3 4 4
Pileated Woodpecker x 15 19 24 27
Eastern Wood-Pewee x 8 8
Acadian Flycatcher x 13 17 10 11
Eastern Phoebe x 9 9 13 13
Great Crested Flycatcher x 2 2 2 2
Eastern Kingbird x
White-eyed Vireo x 4 7 12 14
Yellow-throated Vireo x 3 3 2 2
Blue-headed Vireo x 4 4 10 13
Red-eyed Vireo x 35 74 89 190
Blue Jay x 8 10 12 13
American Crow x 26 30 66 77
Purple Martin x 1 1
N. Rough-winged Swallow x 5 6 2 3
Barn Swallow x 1 2
Carolina Chickadee x 9 9 18 21
Tufted Titmouse x 18 18 34 36
White-breasted Nuthatch x 11 13 21 24
Carolina Wren x 18 25 34 40
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher x 15 15 9 9
Eastern Bluebird x 2 2
Wood Thrush x 8 11 28 31
American Robin x 1 1
Gray Catbird x 1 1
Brown Thrasher x 1 1 1 1
European Starling x 2 5
Cedar Waxwing x 1 1 1 1
Northern Parula x 10 11 7 10
Chestnut-sided Warbler x 2 4 X
Black-throated Green Warbler x 21 33 43 68
Yellow-throated Warbler x 7 7 16 17
Pine Warbler x 8 9 17 22
Prairie Warbler x 4 7 11 14
Cerulean Warbler x
Black-and-white Warbler x 4 5 35 38
American Redstart x
Prothonotary Warbler x X
Worm-eating Warbler x 15 15 40 44
Swainson's Warbler x 1 1 1 1
Ovenbird x 23 52 70 173
Louisiana Waterthrush x 2 2 2 2
Kentucky Warbler x 5 5 1 1
Common Yellowthroat x 7 11 2 2
Hooded Warbler x 20 34 67 100
Yellow-breasted Chat x 7 12 12 17
Summer Tanager x 1 1
Scarlet Tanager x 19 21 50 54
Eastern Towhee x 10 11 18 21
Chipping Sparrow x 3 3
Field Sparrow x 3 3 1 1
Song Sparrow x
Northern Cardinal x 8 8 15 15
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting x 16 24 58 81
Red-winged Blackbird x 1 1 2 11
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle x 1 1 3 3
Brown-headed Cowbird x 1 1 2 2
House Finch x 1 1 X
American Goldfinch x 5 5 7 7
House Sparrow x 1 2

   

    All records of Swainson's Warbler in the BSFNRRA for the 2004 breeding season are provided in the following table:

Date Number Observer County
10 June 1 SJS McCreary, KY (point count)
14 June 1 SJS Scott, TN (BBS)

   Thanks are due Leslie Smith for providing vital logistical support that enabled the roadside BBS to be conducted this year. Thanks are also due the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, especially Robert Emmott and Nora Murdock, for support in providing funding to accomplish this bird inventory of the BSFNRRA.