Little is known about how insectivorous bird diets are influenced by arthropod availability and about how these relationships vary seasonally. We captured birds in forest-canopy gaps and adjacent mature forest during 2001 and 2002 at the Savannah River Site in Barnwell County, South Carolina, and flushed their crops to gather information about arthropods eaten during four periods: spring migration, breeding, postbreeding, and fall migration. Arthropod availability for foliage-and ground-gleaning birds was examined by leaf clipping and pitfall trapping. Coleopterans and Hemipterans were used by foliage-and ground-gleaners more than expected during all periods, whereas arthropods in the orders Araneae and Hymenoptera were used as, or less than, expected based on availability during all periods. Ground-gleaning birds used Homopterans and Lepidopterans in proportions higher than availability during all periods. Arthropod use by birds was consistent from spring through fall migration, with no apparent seasonal shift in diet. Based on concurrent studies, heavily used orders of arthropods were equally abundant or slightly less abundant in canopy gaps than in the surrounding mature forest, but bird species were most frequently detected in gaps. Such results suggest that preferential feeding on arthropods by foliage-gleaning birds in gap habitats reduced arthropod densities or, alternatively, that bird use of gap and forest habitat was not determined by food resources. The abundance of arthropods across the stand may have allowed birds to remain in the densely vegetated gaps where thick cover provides protection from predators. SINOPSIS. Dieta estacional de aves insectivoras usando huecos del docel en bosques de maderas durasSe conoce poco de como la dieta de insectívoros está influenciada por la disponibilidad de artrópodos y de como estas interacciones varían estacionalmente. Capturamos aves en huecos o aberturas del docel de un bosque, adyacente a un bosque maduro durante el 2001 y el 2002 en Savannah River Site, Condado Garnwell, Carolina del Sur. A las aves le lavamos el buche para obtener información sobre los artrópodos utilizados como alimento durante la migración primaveral, durante laépoca reproductiva, post-reproductiva y durante la migración otoñal. Para determinar la disponibilidad de artrópodos en el follaje y en el suelo, usamos la técnica de cortar hojas con artrópodos y la de trampas de envases en el suelo. Los coleópteros y los hemípteros fueron utilizados como fuente de alimento, más de lo esperado tanto por aves que se alimentaron en el follaje como en los suelos, durante todos los periodos. Por su parte, los arácnidos y los himenópteros, fueron utilizados menos de lo esperado, basándose en la disponibilidad de estos durante todos los periodos de estudio. Las aves que se alimentaron en los suelos utilizaron homópteros y lepidópteros en mayor proporción que lo esperado, dada su disponibilidad, durante todos los periodos. Los artrópodos utilizados por las aves fueron consistentes desde la primavera hasta...

SEASONAL BIRD USE OE CANOPY GAPS IN A BOTTOMLAND FORESTLIESSA T BOWEN,' CHRISTOPHER E. MOORMAN,'-^ AND JOHN C. KILGO BSTRACT. â€" Bird use of small canopy gaps within mature forests has not been well studied, particularly across multiple seasons. We investigated seasonal differences in bird use of gap and forest habitat within a bottomland hardwood forest in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Gaps were 0.13-to 0.5-ha, 7-to 8year-old group-selection timber harvest openings. Our study occurred during four bird-u.se periods (spring migration, breeding, postbreeding, and fall migration) in 2001 and 2002. We used plot counts and mist netting to estimate bird abundance in canopy gaps and surrounding mature forest habitats. Using both survey methods, we observed more birds, including forest-interior species, forest-edge species, field-edge species, and several individual species in canopy gap and gap-edge habitats than in surrounding mature forest during all periods. Interactions between period and habitat type often were significant in models, suggesting a seasonal shift in habitat use. Bird activity generally shifted between the interior of canopy gaps and the immediate gap edge, but many species increased their use of forested habitat during the breeding period. This suggests that many species of birds selectively choose gap and gap-edge habitat over surrounding mature forest during the non-breeding period. Creation of small canopy gaps within a mature forest may increase local bird species richness. The reasons for increased bird activity in gaps remain unclear.