Author: John Alexander

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Habitat: Oak Closed Woodland or Forest
Habitat Attribute: large mature trees

Habitat Objectives (Sites)
Oak Closed Woodland or Forest in the following conditions:
– canopy cover >40%
– canopy cover of conifer trees <10%
– subcanopy cover <15%
– mean tree dbh >38 cm (15 in) with >20% of the trees >53 cm (21 in) dbh
– prioritize conservation where European starling presence is minimal or absent

Population Objectives (Sites)
Target Densities in Suitable Habitat:
Willamette Valley:
– North: >0.01 birds/ha
– South: >0.01 birds/ha
Klamath Mountains:
– Umpqua: >0.01 birds/ha
– Rogue: >0.03 birds/ha

Rockwell, S. M., J. L. Stephens, and B. Altman. 2021. Population and habitat objectives for landbirds in grassland, oak, and riparian habitats in the Puget Lowlands, Willamette Valley, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions. Version 2.0. Prepared for Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight, Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. Klamath Bird Observatory, Ashland, OR, and American Bird Conservancy, Corvallis, OR

Bewick’s Wren (Thyromanes bewickii)
Habitat: Riparian Shrubland
Habitat Attribute: moderate to high shrub cover

Habitat Objectives (Sites)
Riparian Shrubland in the following conditions:
– patchy shrub layer (i.e. woody vegetation 1-4 m [3-12 ft] tall) with 30-80% cover and several scattered herbaceous openings
– canopy tree (i.e., woody vegetation >4 m [12 ft] tall) cover <20%

Population Objectives (Sites)
Target Densities in Suitable Habitat:
Puget Lowlands:
– North: >0.01 birds/ha
– South: > 0.01 birds/ha
Willamette Valley: 0
– North: .>0.28 birds/ha
– South: >0.28 birds/ha
Klamath Mountains:
– Umpqua: >0.06 birds/ha
– Rogue: >0.18 birds/ha
maintain cowbird parasitism rates below 10%

Rockwell, S. M., J. L. Stephens, and B. Altman. 2021. Population and habitat objectives for landbirds in grassland, oak, and riparian habitats in the Puget Lowlands, Willamette Valley, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions. Version 2.0. Prepared for Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight, Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. Klamath Bird Observatory, Ashland, OR, and American Bird Conservancy, Corvallis, OR

Black-capped Chickadee (Parus atricapillus)
Habitat: Riparian Open Woodland
Habitat Attribute: cavities in snags or decadent limbs

Habitat Objectives (Sites)
Riparian Open Woodland in the following conditions:
– canopy cover >40%
– subcanopy cover 20-40%
– mean tree dbh >23 cm (9 in)

Population Objectives (Sites)
Target Densities in Suitable Habitat:
Puget Lowlands:
– North: >0.07 birds/ha
– South: > 0.07 birdsha
Willamette Valley:
– North: >0.43 birds/ha
– South: >0.43 birds/ha
Klamath Mountains:
– Umpqua: >0.75 birds/ha
– Rogue: >0.37 birds/ha

Rockwell, S. M., J. L. Stephens, and B. Altman. 2021. Population and habitat objectives for landbirds in grassland, oak, and riparian habitats in the Puget Lowlands, Willamette Valley, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions. Version 2.0. Prepared for Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight, Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. Klamath Bird Observatory, Ashland, OR, and American Bird Conservancy, Corvallis, OR

Black-Throated Gray Warbler
Forest Stage: Young/Pole forest
Habitat Attribute: Deciduous Canopy trees

Habitat Objectives
Landscapes: Within small landscapes (e.g., watersheds, townships, sections), provide >30% of the area as young/ pole forest with site-level habitat conditions as described below.
Sites: Where ecologically appropriate in forests >30 years old provide
– >20% canopy cover of deciduous trees.
Sites: Riparian buffer zones within harvest units should be >55 m (180 ft) wide to provide suitable habitat, and should meet site-level habitat conditions described above.

Habitat Conservation Strategies
– Where deciduous trees occur, ensure persistence of these trees by thinning of conifers shading them out.
– If deciduous trees are not present, conduct thinning to open-up the canopy and allow for development of deciduous trees where ecologically appropriate (e.g., wet sites). Thinning should occur in patches and be variable spaced rather than uniform to minimize negative effects of reduced overstory canopy closure by maintaining some areas with high canopy closure.
– Under long rotations, conduct repeat thinning as necessary to maintain a deciduous canopy component and lengthen the suitability of the habitat for a longer period of time.

Altman, B. and J.D. Alexander. 2012. Habitat conservation for landbirds in coniferous forests of western Oregon and Washington. Version 2.0. Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight (www.orwapif.org) and American Bird Conservancy and Klamath Bird Observatory.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
Habitat: Oak-Chaparral
Habitat Attribute: moderate to high shrub cover

Habitat Objectives (Sites)
Oak-Chaparral in the following conditions:
– tree cover <45%
– shrub cover >40%

Population Objectives (Sites)
Target Densities in Suitable Habitat:
Klamath Mountains:
– Rogue: >0.51 birds/ha
Maintain cowbird parasitism levels <10% within specific study sites

Rockwell, S. M., J. L. Stephens, and B. Altman. 2021. Population and habitat objectives for landbirds in grassland, oak, and riparian habitats in the Puget Lowlands, Willamette Valley, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions. Version 2.0. Prepared for Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight, Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. Klamath Bird Observatory, Ashland, OR, and American Bird Conservancy, Corvallis, OR

Brown Creeper
Forest condition: Old-growth/Mature
Forest Stage: (Multi-Layered/Late-Successional)
Habitat Attribute: Large trees less abundant along edges than in the forest interior requires patches of contiguous forest habitat much larger than their territory to maintain a presence or a viable population (forest-interior or area-sensitive species)

Habitat Objectives
Landscapes: At small landscape scales (e.g., watersheds, townships, sections), provide ≥3 blocks of late successional forest >30 ha (75 ac) or one block >85 ha (210 ac) per square mile with site-level habitat conditions as described below.
Sites: Where ecologically appropriate in forests >60 years old provide
– canopy closure >70%
– ≥15 trees/ha (6/ac) >50 cm (20 in) dbh
– ≥3 trees/ha (1.2/ac) >70 cm (24 in) dbh
-most or all of the trees should be Douglas-fir
Sites: Riparian buffer zones within harvest units should be >30 m (100 ft) wide to provide suitable habitat and should meet site-level habitat conditions described above.

Habitat Conservation Strategies
-Maintain late-successional forests in the largest tracts possible to reduce amount of edge and fragmentation.
-Small patches of late-successional forest or light or moderately thinned forest dominated by large trees can be suitable for foraging only if extensive areas of late successional forest are adjacent (Mayrhofer 2006).
-Retain or create snags (essential for nesting) within late successional forest that are of earlier decay classes with bark remaining rather than older snags without bark.
-In forests managed for production of wood products, extend rotation age to >80 years to allow for development of large trees and snags, and retain these trees and snags and recruit replacements at each harvest entry.
– In conjunction with extended rotations in forests managed for wood products, and where physically practical (e.g., not on steep slopes), conduct early and frequent thinning to accelerate individual tree growth and faster development of large trees.
– In harvest units of forests managed for wood products, retained trees should be clumped (retention aggregates),and should be primarily Douglas-fir with an emphasis on trees with deep fissures or furrows in the bark to provide more surface area and complexity of micro habitats for foraging (Van Pelt 2007).

Altman, B. and J.D. Alexander. 2012. Habitat conservation for landbirds in coniferous forests of western Oregon and Washington. Version 2.0. Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight (www.orwapif.org) and American Bird Conservancy and Klamath Bird Observatory.