Forest Atlas Of The United States

Forest Birds

Birds are essential components of forest ecosystems. Small fruit-eating and insectivorous birds disseminate seeds and help regulate insect populations. Large predatory birds control small-mammal populations, and birds serve as food for other species, including humans. Some birds, such as woodpeckers, construct nest cavities that later serve as shelter for other animals. Scavenging birds help decompose animal and plant material on the forest floor. And, the beauty of bird song and flight provides incomparable aesthetic value.

Forest attributes of composition and structure are important to forest bird species to varying degrees and during different seasons. These attributes include: species of trees and understory vegetation, tree diameter, canopy and understory height and density, and abundance of standing dead trees and downed dead wood. The arrangement of forest and non-forest habitat on the landscape also plays an integral role in the ability of forests to meet bird life cycle needs.

All types of forests are important for birds, and each bird species is adapted to the forest in which it resides. Suitable bird habitat provides food, water, shelter, nest sites, song posts, and perching sites. Some species, such as mockingbirds and crows, are habitat generalists: they occupy a wide range of habitats and are not dependent on any one type. Others, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker and Kirtland’s warbler, are habitat specialists and require a specific habitat type or feature for all or a critical part of their life cycle. The red-cockaded woodpecker, for example, makes its nest only in living pine trees.

Forest breeding bird species diversity in the United States generally increases from southwest to northeast following gradients of moisture, topography, and vegetation. US oak-pine and oak-hickory forest types support around 150 to 200 species of breeding birds, while coniferous forests support about 150 species. Bird species diversity increases with forest succession in deciduous forests. Up to 75 percent of bird species in deciduous forests are neotropical migratory songbirds, which actually spend most of each year in other habitats, from the southern United States to Central or South America.

In general, diverse landscapes support more species than do uniform ones with little variation in topography or vegetation. For example, mountainous regions tend to support numerous avian species because of the habitat diversity associated with topographical changes. Forest management techniques such as thinning or prescribed burning are sometimes used to manipulate forest communities to target a specific species or to support overall avian diversity in a stand or on the landscape.

The flammulated owl (Otus flammeolus) is an example of a species that has specific habitat requirements for breeding. Like many owl species, the flammulated owl nests in cavities of live trees or in large standing dead trees, or snags.

flammulated owl

Throughout most of their breeding range of western North America, flammulated owls inhabit mid-elevation montane forests of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). This map shows the extent of those pine species and associated flammulated owl range. Potential flammulated owl breeding habitat is present on about half of this forest acreage, where there are trees of a large size and open cover.
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Wood duck
Wood duck
Wood duck wood duck icon Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) live in and near wooded swamps and lakes, where holes in trees provide nesting habitat.
Baltimore oriole
Baltimore oriole
Baltimore oriole oriole icon Baltimore orioles (Icterus galbula) migrate from their wintering range in southern Mexico and Central America to eastern North America to nest and fledge.
Northern cardinal
Northern cardinal
Northern cardinal cardinal icon Male Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a striking red birds that are found throughout the eastern US. Their natural habitat includes woodlands, parks, and the shrubby perimeter of forests.
Acorn woodpecker
Acorn woodpecker
Acorn woodpecker woodpecker icon Acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) are found in the coastal western US and Mexico and store thousands of acorns each year in specially made holes in trees.
Cooper’s hawk
Cooper’s hawk
Cooper’s hawk hawk icon Cooper’s hawks (Accipiter cooperii) are commonly found near woodlands, feeding almost exclusively on small to mid-sized birds.
Ruffed grouse
Ruffed grouse
Ruffed grouse grouse icon Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) inhabit northern forests from Appalachia to Alaska.
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FOREST BIRD HABITAT. Each bird species may be characterized by a general habitat type, but many species use different features of a forest during different life stages, requiring a diverse set of characteristics even for an individual species. In addition, a bird species may be generalists during part of the year, such as in winter, but have more specific habitat requirements during other life stages, such as during breeding season.

forest birds

FOREST BIRD HABITAT. Each bird species may be characterized by a general habitat type. But many species use different features of a forest during different life stages, requiring a diverse set of characteristics even for an individual species. Species may be generalists during part of the year, such as in winter, but specialists during other life stages, such as during breeding season. Thus, depending on the life stage, a given species may occupy differing locations in the forest. This graphic provides examples of types of birds most likely to be encountered in a given forest vegetation layer for at least some portions of the bird’s life cycle.

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