Welcome to the American Ornithological Society 2018 Annual Conference. We are pleased to have you join us at the lovely Hilton El Conquistador Resort in Tucson, AZ.
The Gray-cheeked Thrush is a Neotropical migrant that breeds across the northern boreal forest. Once widespread and abundant on Newfoundland, it has declined by as much as 95\% since 1975. We hypothesized that the introduction of red squirrels to the island may have driven this decline but, prior to this study, there has been no formal comparison of the distribution of squirrels and thrushes or assessment of thrush habitat use across a broad elevational gradient. During 2016 and 2017 we surveyed 250 km2 in the Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland to delineate the ranges of both squirrels and thrushes and to better understand the Gray-cheeked Thrush's habitat associations, especially in the context of harvested and pre-commercially thinned stands. Red squirrels occurred at elevations up to 500m but were most abundant at low elevations with numbers dropping off above 300m. Thrushes were historically present at all elevations but now appear restricted to elevations above 325m and increase in abundance up to 500m elevation. While elevation and squirrel presence influence the probability of thrush occurrence, there are indications that Gray-cheeked Thrushes may avoid pre-commercial thinned stands, and select regenerating coniferous stands, mature coniferous stands, second growth mixed stands, and regenerating clearcuts. Our findings point to beneficial forest management practices for thrush recovery planning, the importance of limiting further spread of squirrels across the Newfoundland archipelago, and the need to make informed decisions before introducing species to island ecosystems.
