Using automated recorders and occupancy models to monitor common forest birds across a large geographic region

ABSTRACT Automated recorders and occupancy models can be used together to monitor population trends of multiple avian species across a large geographic region. Automated recorders are an attractive method for monitoring birds, because they leave a record that can be independently validated and multiple units can be programmed to repeatedly survey different locations at the same daily times. We assessed the use of automated recorders and single‐species, single‐season occupancy models to monitor common forest birds across a 5.4‐million‐ha region of northern California. Using a survey protocol of 5‐minute recordings at 3 times of the morning repeated over 3 consecutive days at 453 sites, we detected 32 species at >10% of these sites. Five of these species (Steller's jay Cyanocitta stelleri , mountain chickadee Poecile gambeli , red‐breasted nuthatch Sitta canadensis , dark‐eyed junco Junco hyemalis , and western tanager Piranga ludoviciana ) were dominant with occupancies >0.5. We also modeled occupancy associations with elevation and canopy cover for brown creeper ( Certhia americana ), MacGillivray's warbler ( Geothlypis tolmiei ), and western tanager and found the environmental conditions at which occupancy was maximized differed by up to 399 m in elevation and 17.9% canopy cover for these species. Given a sampling effort of 100 new sites per year, we demonstrated 80% power ( α = 0.1) to detect occupancy declines as small as 2.5% per year over 20 years for the 32 most common species. The effective radius of automated recorder surveys was approximately 50 m. In a field test, surveys conducted concurrently using automated recorders and point counts yielded similar occupancy estimates despite differences in detection probability. Our results suggest that automated recorders, used alone or in conjunction with point counts, can provide a practical means of monitoring common forest birds across a large geographic area. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.