CHANGES IN BREEDING BIRD ABUNDANCE AFTER THE KINCADE FIRE, SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Abstract

Birds’ responses to wildfire have been well studied in southern California and the Sierra Nevada, but less attention has been paid to central and northern coastal California, a region with frequent high-intensity fires. Using a combination of data from a structured point-count survey and incidental community-science data (eBird.org), we compare bird species’ abundance three years before and after the Kincade Fire, which burned 314.6 km2, including along Pine Flat Road in Sonoma County, California, in October 2019. The point-count protocol consisted of a 5-minute count at 16 points repeated three times per season in April and May for three years both before and after the fire (except for just a single survey in 2016). Of 42 species modeled, 10 decreased in abundance following the fire, most notably the Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata; 99% by both methods). The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) colonized, and two, the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) and Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), increased according to both methods. As found in many studies of birds’ response to fire, the Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) increased sharply, though this was attested by the point counts only. For two species, the Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) and California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum), the trend per eBird data was a decline whereas the trend per point-count data was an increase. Trends in the abundances of the remaining 27 species were only weakly related (21 species) or unrelated (5 species) to the fire.