Abstract
This study focused on shrine woods in a rural area as small habitats for forest bird species and analyzed the relationship between avifauna and the environmental conditions in and around shrine woods. We also discussed preserving bird species at small habitats. The study area was located in Yoro Town, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. The survey of woods and birds was conducted in 42 shrine woods in the town during the breeding season of birds from April to June of 2006. We selected ten factors including site areas and canopy areas of shrine as environmental conditions influencing avifauna and examined the relationship between avifauna and the environmental conditions of the shrine woods by multiple regression analysis, TWINSPAN and discriminant analysis. As a result, the site area of shrine, the percentage of tree canopy area in 100 m radius circle and the number of the tree species, were extracted as the factors influencing avifauna of forest birds. This result confirmed that we should consider these conditions for preserving bird habitats. However, some bird species such as Parus varius were not found in any shrine forests. It shows that larger forests should be preserved for these species.
