The use of shrubland vegetation by birds in Langadas, Greece

The variety and distribution of passerines have been studied in Quercus coccifera shrublands in the area of Lagada, Thessaloniki, during April-June 2002. The shrublands of the study area have been classified into two types, the sparse shrublands (with vegetation cover 10%-40%) and the dense shrublands (with vegetation cover 40%-100%). The objective of the study was to present a comparative evaluation of the two shrubland types as to their appeal to passerines. Censuses of the bird fauna were undertaken using the point count method with duration of 20 minutes per each. During the study, a total of 75 point counts in both habitat types were carried out. During these counts 28 different bird species have been recorded. The habitat type with the highest number of species was the sparse shrubland in which 24 bird species were observed, while dense shrublands hosted 21 bird species. At least 17 bird species were common in both habitat types, varying in their frequency of occurrence. The most common species in sparse shrublands were Corn bunting Miliaria calandra (L.) and Woodchat shrike Lanius senator L. who was present at the 44.4% of the point counts. In dense shrublands the most common species were Sardinian warbler Sylvia melanocephala (G.) (43.6%) and Black-headed bunting Emberiza melanocephala Scop. (28.2%). The shrubland type which is mostly affected by the grazing pressure, influences the composition and distribution of bird fauna, thus sparse shrublands present a higher variety in bird species number and number of individuals as well. Additionally, bird density per ha was higher in sparse shrublands.