Determining the Effectiveness of Forestry Beneficial Management Practices for Olive-sided Flycatcher, a Species at Risk Bird in Nova Scotia

Abstract

The Olive-sided Flycatcher (OSFL) is a bird species at risk that breeds across Canada, including in Nova Scotia's forests. It is considered threatened in the province, experiencing recent population declines. While OSFL occupies protected areas in Nova Scotia (NS), research indicates that these areas alone are insufficient for conservation, emphasizing the need for conservation efforts in working forests. Species-specific beneficial management practices (BMPs) were developed for OSFL in the context of forest harvesting and applied in a stand in Cape Breton in 2022. However, their effectiveness in conserving OSFL is undetermined. This study assesses BMP effectiveness by evaluating OSFL reproductive success inferred from vocalization activity as a measure for successful conservation. Bioacoustic data from the harvested site in Cape Breton a non-BMP control site in Southwest NS were collected using autonomous recording units and analyzed in Raven Pro/Lite. Songs and calls were counted independently using visual and auditory clues, as well as aid by BirdNET identification highlights. These counts were averaged over varied time periods, and vocal activities were compared to expected patterns observed for pairing, successful nesting, and failed nesting. In the harvested site, results on song rate activity were consistent with patterns expected for male OSFL that pair and reproduce successfully. On the other hand, those at the control site displayed song rate activity consistent with patterns expected for male OSFL that pair but experience a failed nest. This indicates that harvesting with BMPs allowed OSFL to occupy the area and did not inhibit the bird from breeding successfully, thus highlighting the potential effectiveness of the BMPs in OSFL conservation.