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	Urban Bird Study in 2002

Urban Bird Study Update

by Carol Foss,  Director of Conservation Science

In the summer of 2000, Audubon began researching the distribution and breeding behavior of birds in urban settings. The goal of this project is to determine the level of influence that property size and residential landscape configuration have on bird behavior, including reproductive success. After two field seasons in urban neighborhoods with less than one-acre lots, the Urban Bird Study shifted to larger lot subdivisions, cluster developments, and patches of urban forest for 2003. Technicians Quentin Hays, Jeff Normandin, and Aaron Svedlow, with pre-season and part-time assistance from Pam Hunt, Laura Deming, Mark Suomala, Mike Milligan, and Carol Foss, surveyed a total of 19 sites on a weekly basis from late April thru July. Neighborhoods and forest plots surveyed were located in Amherst, Bow, Concord, Hollis, Londonderry, and Merrimack. Highlights of the season were successful nests of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in a Merrimack neighborhood and of Winter Wrens in a Bow forest patch. Data analysis is still underway, and further results will appear in a later issue.