Cliff Attributes and Bird Communities in Jefferson County, Colorado

Overlapping home ranges and microhabitat partitioning among Canyon Wrens (Catherpes mexicanus) and Rock Wrens (Salpinctes obsoletus)

“…Existing studies suggest that Canyon Wren home ranges are widely spaced and highly variable in size (Miller and Stebbins 1964, Mirsky 1976, Jones and Dieni 1995. Migratory Rock Wren home ranges are reported to be closely spaced (0.25-0.40 birds/ha) in areas with appropriate rockstrewn habitat (Hensly 1954, Lowther et al 2000, Rossi and Knight 2006 or more widely spaced (0.1-0.2 birds/ha) in areas containing less rock (Walcheck 1970, Medin 1987, Rumble 1987. In our study area Canyon Wrens are permanent residents, while Rock Wrens are migrants, so interspecific territory overlap could occur if Rock Wrens settle on Canyon Wren home ranges during the breeding season.…”

“…Cliff habitats are relatively understudied, and therefore we lack good estimates of avian space use within these ecosystems (Berry and Bock 1998, Larson et al 2000, Rossi and Knight 2006. Furthermore, cliff habitats are relatively structurally simple and typically house unique but sparse vegetation, providing limited foraging microhabitats (Cooper 1997, Matheson andLarson 1998).…”

Rock climbing activity and physical habitat attributes impact avian community diversity in cliff environments

“…Cliffs provide protection from traditional disturbance pressures, such as trampling and terrestrial predators [4], and by increasing structural heterogeneity, they can foster greater species richness and diversity than adjacent non-cliff habitats [1, 5, 6]. Furthermore, many species that use cliffs are adapted to cliff habitats and have elevated conservation concerns [7]. Thus, cliff habitats are unique, essentially non-renewable [8], havens for a wide range of species.…”

“…Indeed, it is considered a world-class climbing destination as the rock formations comprising “The Flatirons” were ranked eighth in a list of top climbing locations in the U.S. by XtremeSports [16]. Cliffs in this area provide essential nesting and foraging habitat for species including White-throated Swifts ( Aeronautes saxatalis ), Violet-green Swallows ( Tachycineta thalassina ), Rock Wrens ( Salpinctes obsoletus ), and Canyon Wrens ( Catherpes mexicanus ), which are the passerine species most tightly associated with cliff habitats in Colorado [7, 17]. The effects of recreational rock climbing on these (and other) cliff-dwelling species are unknown, but because some of them are typically present in low densities, human disturbance may impact territory occupancy and breeding success[18].…”

Birds in rocky habitats of the Tatra Mountains (Carpathians): species diversity and multiple ecological relationships

“…Rocks as a significant component of mountain ranges, significantly affect biodiversity (Ward and Anderson 1988;Matheson and Larson 1998;Larson et al 1999). However, the use of particular rocks by an entire bird community is not well documented (Rossi and Knight 2006). Brambilla et al 2004;Amato et al 2014).…”