scholarly journals Detectability of Non-passerines Using "Pishing" in Eastern Ontario Woodlands

2005 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ryan Zimmerling

During spring and summer 1997, non-passerines were surveyed in three woodlots near Arnprior, Ontario, using standard point counts, and standard point counts combined with “pishing” (pishing involves the observer saying the words “pish pish pish pish” in a continuous series of short bursts). Of the 27 non-passerine species detected, 22 were recorded on more days using pishing as opposed to the standard point count method. However, only three of these species were recorded on significantly more days using pishing. Several woodpecker species approached more closely during point counts with pishing, which facilitated identification. In contrast, raptors and some other non-passerines that may have otherwise gone unnoticed were identified as they fled from the pishing sound. Hence, when the overall goal of research is to detect species richness or to gather presence and absence data in woodlands, point counts combined with pishing may increase detectability of some non-passerines.

Birds ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-361
Author(s):  
Michał Budka ◽  
Kinga Kułaga ◽  
Tomasz Osiejuk

The point-count method is one of the most popular techniques for surveying birds. However, the accuracy and precision of this method may vary across various environments and geographical regions. We conducted sound-recorder-based point-counts to examine the accuracy and precision of the method for bird biodiversity estimation as a function of geographical region, habitat type and the time of day at which the survey began. In temperate (Poland) and tropical (Cameroon) regions, we recorded soundscapes on two successive mornings at 36 recording sites (18 in each location). At each site, we analyzed three 5-min surveys per day. We found no differences in the accuracy and precision of the method between regions and habitats. The accuracy was significantly greater at sunrise than during later surveys. The similarity of the bird assemblages detected by different surveys did not differ between regions or habitats. However, the bird communities described at the same time of day were significantly more similar to each other than those detected by surveys conducted at different times. The point-count method provided statistically indistinguishable estimates of bird biodiversity in different geographical regions and habitats. However, our results highlight two weaknesses of the method: low accuracy (41–54%), which limits the usefulness of a single survey in understanding bird–environment relationships, and changes in accuracy throughout the day, which may result in the misinterpretation of the status of bird populations.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0259805
Author(s):  
Govind Tiwari ◽  
Puneet Pandey ◽  
Rahul Kaul ◽  
Hang Lee ◽  
Randeep Singh

Diurnal raptors show a wider distribution compared to other groups of birds including passerines, woodpeckers, and seriemas, but occur at lower-than-expected densities. Estimating the precise abundance is essential to achieve conservation goals but the methods used to estimate the populations of birds need to be appropriate to arrive at meaningful conclusions. We compared the two survey methods: roadside point count and strip transects, for estimating species richness and abundance of raptors in the arid landscape of Rajasthan. Roadside point counts and roadside strip transects were done on 50 transects between December 2019- February 2020 (with an average length of 20 km and a total distance of 3000 km) to assess the species richness and abundance of raptors. A total of 2954 observations of raptors belonging to 35 species were recorded using both methods. Mann Whitney U test result showed no significant difference in species richness and abundance estimates between both methods (p = 0.206). The point count method yielded a higher relative abundance of 2.79 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 than the 1.90 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 obtained during the strip transect. Also, the number of unidentified species were less for point counts. Extrapolation values indicated that both the methods do not differ much for the detection of unsampled species. The choice of survey method depends on the objectives of the study, but our results favor the use of point counts rather than strip transects to survey raptors in open habitats. The information generated from this study is expected to provide the most efficient method to study the abundance and distribution of raptors in similar landscapes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
Zahid Bhatti ◽  
Asad Ghufran ◽  
Fakhra Nazir

Point count method was used to determine the relative abundance of non-passerine species at Marala wetlands (District Sialkot, Pakistan) during different calendar months between October, 2000 and September, 2001. Six species (Hoopoe, Lapwing, Spotted Owlet, Osprey, Indian Roller and Indian Nightjar) were recorded. Osprey and Spotted Owlet appearing in smaller numbers and Red Wattled Lapwing as a dominant resident. All the species were resident with some variation in population sizes during different seasons, though Osprey was a winter visitor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (28) ◽  
pp. 333-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vagner Cavarzere ◽  
Thiago Vernaschi Vieira da Costa ◽  
Luís Fábio Silveira

Due to rapid and continuous deforestation, recent bird surveys in the Atlantic Forest are following rapid assessment programs to accumulate significant amounts of data during short periods of time. During this study, two surveying methods were used to evaluate which technique rapidly accumulated most species (> 90% of the estimated empirical value) at lowland Atlantic Forests in the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Birds were counted during the 2008-2010 breeding seasons using 10-minute point counts and 10-species lists. Overall, point counting detected as many species as lists (79 vs. 83, respectively), and 88 points (14.7 h) detected 90% of the estimated species richness. Forty-one lists were insufficient to detect 90% of all species. However, lists accumulated species faster in a shorter time period, probably due to the nature of the point count method in which species detected while moving between points are not considered. Rapid assessment programs in these forests will rapidly detect more species using 10-species lists. Both methods shared 63% of all forest species, but this may be due to spatial and temporal mismatch between samplings of each method.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
John F. Sahusilawane

This study was conducted to determine the composition of bird diversity and vegetation stages and composition, to determine the variables that most influence the diversity of birds in protected forests Sirimau, This study was conducted for three months from September 2015 to November 2015. Bird observations and habitat variables performed using the Point Count method, and found thirty observation points at each location, with 30 cm trellis and 200 m plot distance. The analysis of birds and vegetation in Sirimau mountain forests shows that, bird species are dominated by Red Eye (Aplonis Motalica), and more than 50 species of vegetation exist in the research location, dominated by fruits.  


The Auk ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hutto ◽  
Sandra M. Pletschet ◽  
Paul Hendricks

Abstract We provide a detailed description of a fixed-radius point count method that carries fewer assumptions than most of the currently popular methods of estimating bird density and that can be used during both the nonbreeding and breeding seasons. The method results in three indices of bird abundance, any of which can be used to test for differences in community composition among sites, or for differences in the abundance of a given bird species among sites. These indices are (1) the mean number of detections within 25 m of the observer, (2) the frequency of detections within 25 m of the observer, and (3) the frequency of detections regardless of distance from the observer. The overall ranking of species abundances from a site is similar among the three indices, but discrepancies occur with either rare species that are highly detectable at great distances or common species that are repulsed by, or inconspicuous when near, the observer. We argue that differences in the behavior among species will preclude an accurate ranking of species by abundance through use of this or any other counting method in current use.


Soil Science ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. DANIELS ◽  
E. E. GAMBLE ◽  
L. J. BARTELLI ◽  
L. A. NELSON

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Francis Lado ◽  
David Gwolo Phanuel Mogga ◽  
Richard Angelo Lado Benjamin

The study was carried out to determine patterns of birds’ species richness, alpha and beta diversities; and abundance in Badingilo national park using a 10 m fixed-radius point count method. A total of 2670 individuals were recorded from 182 points in the park. The highest expected number of species (Jack1 estimator) was observed in the Riverine habitat and least was in the Agriculture and Human settlement habitat type. The total number of species observed in the park was 63; however Jack1 estimator indicated that there were 68 species in the park. The majority of the birds observed during the study were resident species, few migratory and Palaearctic bird species. Few birds observed in the park were abundant. The most abundant species was the village weaver (381 individuals), and the rarest species were black-bellied bustard, barn owl, black scimitar bill and tree pipit (one individual each).


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