How Are the Birds Doing?
Wrentit: stable
Wrentits remain relatively common at Palomarin, despite long-term habitat change and climate change.
Song Sparrow: declining
Song Sparrows were once one of the most common species at Palomarin, but their numbers have declined locally, thought to be a result of the long-term habitat change.
Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrow: declining
Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows have declined dramatically as the local vegetation has shifted from open scrub and grassland to dense coastal scrub and Douglas fir forest.
Spotted Towhee: stable
Spotted Towhee populations remain relatively stable at Palomarin.
California Scrub-Jay: stable
California Scrub-Jays are infrequently caught in our mist-nets, in part because they are larger than most of the species we catch and are more easily able to get themselves out! Capture rates are low but steady.
Wilson's Warbler: mixed
Wilson's Warbler numbers have declined slightly in our forested mist-netting area, even though the number of nesting territories has increased in other parts of our study area.
Swainson's Thrush: mixed
Swainson's Thrush numbers have remained steady in our forested mist-netting area, even though the number of nesting territories has increased in other parts of our study area.
Fox Sparrow: stable
Fox Sparrows are relatively steady, except for an unusual spike in their numbers in 2013, possibly the result of an extremely productive nesting season in Alaska.
Golden-crowned Sparrow: declining
Golden-crowned Sparrows have been slowly declining, but with a bump in their numbers in 2013 similar to Fox Sparrow, possibly the result of an extremely productive nesting season in Alaska.
Hermit Thrush: declining
Hermit Thrushes have declined slightly over the years.
