PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 18: Avian Communities and Populations
Monday, August 8, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 524 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Prehistoric village sites support distinct songbird assemblages.

Knudsen, Jon^*,1, Huntly, Nancy ¹, ¹ Idaho State University, Pocatello

ABSTRACT- Prehistoric Aleut village sites in the Aleutians and Lower Alaskan Peninsula have distinct plant communities from areas that were not previously sites of human occupation, including differences in plant diversity, species composition, and biomass. We tested whether these altered habitat patches on the landscape supported different assemblages of songbirds and whether the behaviors of birds differed between village sites and paired nearby sites that were not previously unoccupied on Sanak Island, AK. Previously unoccupied sites had higher abundances of songbirds, but ancient village sites had higher species richness and diversity of songbirds. Behaviors of two of the three most common songbirds, Lapland longspurs and Gray-crowned rosy finches, also differed significantly between village sites and adjacent unoccupied areas. Lapland Longspurs were more active and displayed significantly more frequently on non-village sites than on village sites. Conversely, gray-crowned rosy finches were more active on village sites, and spent significantly more time foraging on village sites than on adjacent non-village areas. The behavior of Savanna sparrows did not differ between village sites and previously unoccupied areas. The heterogeneous landscape that includes distinct patches of vegetation associated with ancient Aleut village sites appears to have altered the species composition, diversity, activity levels, and behavior of songbirds on Sanak Island.

Key words: songbirds, diversity, behavior, Aleut