An overview of the Fresno Bird Count project presented at the Public Participation in Scientific Research workshop held at the American Natural History Museum. April 7-8, 2011. For more information on the workshop, visit: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/conference/ppsr2011

1. Fresno Bird Count - Citizen Madhusudan Katti
Fresno Bird Count
Department of Biology,
Science for a changing world California State University, Fresno

2. Whither biodiversity in
an urbanizing world?
• More humans now live in cities
than ever before
• But we continue to look
outside cities for wildlife
• urban ecology remains a
relatively “new” discipline
• Urban areas are replacing not
only natural habitats, but also
other human landscapes such
as farmland
• Understanding what happens
to other species under
urbanization is therefore
critical

3. Challenges and Data Needs for Urban Ecology
• Urban habitats are highly variable
• many different land uses
• rapid changes over short distances
• need many sites for precision in data
• Many species of birds
• Measurements must be repeatable at
same sites over years

4. Fresno Bird Count - Census Sites

5. Fresno Bird Count: April 15-May 15 (Spring count)
Survey Design & Census Methodology
• 460 sites on a 1Km X 1Km grid
• each site located randomly within a single grid cell
• Grouped into 58 clusters (routes) of 7-8 sites each
• possible to cover all sites in a single morning
• Counts must be conducted within 4 hours after sunrise
• Point Count
• 5-minute duration
• count all birds seen & heard
• within a 40m-radius circle while standing at center point
• record number of individuals seen for each species
• supplementary observations - birds outside circle / time window

6. Study Area & Sampling Design
Fresno Clovis Metropolitan Area (FCMA)
Fresno Bird Count Study Area
Madera County
California Clovis
Fresno County
Fresno
Fresno County
FBC site Censused in 2008 Habitat surveyed
(N=460) (N=184) in 2008 (N=38)
B. Schleder, 2010. M.S. Thesis, California State University, Fresno

7. Fresno Bird Count: Public Participants’ Perspective

8. Fresno Bird Count: Public Participants’ Perspective
• Volunteers include local birdwatchers, students, and faculty from CSU Fresno
• recruited via Fresno Audubon, county bird listserv, flyers on campus

9. Fresno Bird Count: Public Participants’ Perspective
• Volunteers include local birdwatchers, students, and faculty from CSU Fresno
• recruited via Fresno Audubon, county bird listserv, flyers on campus
• Motivation for participation
• Interest in birds and the environment
• Concern for local water policy issues
• Academic interest (thesis, class project, etc.)

10. Fresno Bird Count: Public Participants’ Perspective
• Volunteers include local birdwatchers, students, and faculty from CSU Fresno
• recruited via Fresno Audubon, county bird listserv, flyers on campus
• Motivation for participation
• Interest in birds and the environment
• Concern for local water policy issues
• Academic interest (thesis, class project, etc.)
• What do they get out of it?
• we haven’t really evaluated this systematically! But...
• most seem to enjoy the field work, bring friends along;
• are intrigued by results we have so far, judging by attendance at public talks
and response to articles in newsletters and blog posts.
• I hope they become more engaged in urban policy & management efforts.

11. Bird Species Richness in the FCMA
• Example from 2008
• 186 points surveyed by 30
volunteers
• 68 bird species recorded
• 3,263 total birds
• Average species richness
per site 5.13 ± 0.16 SE
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B. Schleder, 2010. M.S. Thesis, California State University, Fresno

12. One set of pathways examined
• Irrigation rate will be positively correlated to the socioeconomics of a
neighborhood.
• Vegetative cover will be partially correlated with an increase in irrigation.
• Bird species richness will be partially positively correlated with areas
containing increased vegetative cover.
• Foraging guild richness will be partially correlated to areas of higher irrigation.
B. Schleder, 2010. M.S. Thesis, California State University, Fresno

13. Multivariate drivers of bird diversity
Model based inference based on comparison of 56 models. Best model (lowest AICc = 119.67):
8 parameters, 3 interaction terms Whole model R2=0.68 (adj. R2=0.52), F(12,25)=4.47, P=0.0008
Source +ve/-ve F-ratio P value
Mode of Irrigation * %Population Below Poverty - 8.28 0.008
% Grass Cover * % Population Below Poverty + 7.71 0.01
Mean Grass Height * % Population Below Poverty - 3.16 0.09
Mean Irrigation Score - 3.03 0.09
% Open Canopy + 2.85 0.10
% Building - 2.28 0.14
% Grass + 1.56 0.22
Mean Irrigation * Mode of Irrigation + 1.12 0.29
Mean Grass Height + 1.01 0.32
Mode of Irrigation - 0.75 0.45
% Population below Poverty - 0.50 0.48
B. Schleder, 2010. M.S. Thesis, California State University, Fresno

14. Poverty, irrigation, & bird diversity
• Residential irrigation decreased significantly with increased % poverty.
• Species Diversity: Multivariate results indicate that poverty has strong indirect
effects on bird species diversity through intermediate variables including
irrigation, % grass, % open canopy, and mean grass height.
• Guild Diversity: Poverty and Irrigation significantly affects bird guild diversity.
Multivariate results show that both poverty and irrigation have strong effects on
bird guild diversity through intermediate variables including mean grass height
and % grass.
B. Schleder, 2010. M.S. Thesis, California State University, Fresno

15. Other pathways
being studied
• Same sampling scheme as FBC
• Tree Diversity and Cover survey (in
progress)
• Social Survey of individual
households (first round complete)
• Interviews of institutional actors
(key policy makers & implementers
in city govt; summer 2011)
• Land Use Land Cover (LULC)
analysis (preliminary)

16. It takes a village to study the city...
• Paying the bills:
• National Science Foundation & U.S. Forest
Service (ULTRA-Ex Award # 0949036)
• CSU Fresno: Provost, College of Science
and Mathematics, Division of Graduate
Studies
• Robert and Norma Craig Foundation
• Fresno Audubon Society
• Tucson Bird Count, NiJeL for database
management
• Graduate students: Bradley Schleder, Seth
Reid
• City of Fresno, City of Clovis, Fresno County
• Citizen Scientists of the Fresno Bird Count!
NiJeL!