Bird Communities and Habitat Relationships in a Residential Area of Tokyo

Abstract

Conserving birds in urban environments requires ecological information that can be applied to city planning and designing, but few ecological studies on bird communities in residential area have so far been made. I conducted surveys of the terrestrial bird communities at 12 locations in a residential area of Tokyo, Japan in both the breeding and wintering seasons in 1990-91, and identified habitat features associated with bird communities. In both seasons, the residential areas with abundant vegetation supported more species and higher densities of birds. Number of trees (>8m in height) and average tree height were the most significant variables for explaining variances of diversity of bird species among study plots. Abundance and height of buildings were negative factors for diversity in the wintering season, conversely they were positive in the breeding season. Most bird species preferred to use land covered by vegetation. Land occupied by buildings and bare land tended to be avoided by birds and used by fewer species than expected. It was confirmed that vegetation, especially trees, was the key element for bird conservation in residential areas. I present environmental guidelines required for bird conservation in residential areas.