Vegetation structure effect on bird foraging behavior across the summer season in montane wet-meadows

Abstract

Mountain White-crowned Sparrows and Wilson’s Warblers rely on foraging microhabitats in montane wet meadows during the breeding season to find food for themselves and their offspring. The microhabitats are comprised of vegetation, which can be food itself, but it can also be a substrate for invertebrates that birds can consume. I investigated the differences in foraging microhabitat vegetation structure between these two species by conducting foraging observations accompanied by vegetative surveys. Observations took place in two survey periods to account for food availability and breeding season interferences: late June to early July and mid-July to late July. I found that vegetative structure had no significant effect on foraging efficiency. Additionally, neither bird was found to be significantly more efficient at foraging. I found that the two target birds forage significantly more efficiently later in the season.

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