Insectivorous song bird distribution near bodies of water.

Abstract

Populations of birds are often limited by food abundance (Martin 1987) and other studies have shown a correlation between insect abundance and relative bird density (Holmes and Sherry 1988, Iwata et al. 2003). Consequently we predicted that Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) densities will be higher near the shore of Douglas Lake, Pellston Michigan, than further inland from the lake because there is likely to be a larger and more diverse population of insects, both aquatic and terrestrial, compared to areas further from lake, where insect populations are likely to be mostly terrestrial. However, we did not find a significant difference between the density of Red-eyed Vireos at shoreline and inland sites. However, our results must be interpreted cautiously given methodological limitations associated with our work.