Eastern Wood

The Eastern Wood breeding bird census is a long-term annual census of breeding birds in an oak-wood habitat located on Bookham Common, Surrey, UK. "Eastern Wood" refers to the sample area within the Bookham Common.

Ecological Level: Community

Biome: Temperate Woodland

Location: England (Lat/Long)

Spatial Scale of data: 16 ha sample area

Timespan: 1949-1979

Frequency: anually (several surveys per year compiled into 1 value for the year)

Observational/Experimental: Observational

Dataset Location: Gaston, K.J., and T.M. Blackburn (2000) Pattern and Process in Macroecology. Blackwell Science

Data collection summary: Site is visited repeatedly March-July. The position of each bird observed during a survey was mapped and from the repeated surveys estimates of bird numbers were made.

Data Collected: Species, abundance

Issues:

• While data exists from 1946-1949, not all species were recorded during these time period. Beven (1976) contains info on which species were surveyed before 1950 - it varies by year.
  
  • From 1946-1949 data only exists for the following species:
    
    • Wren: 1948 only
    • Blackbird: 1946 only
    • Robin: 1946-1948
    • Chaffinch: 1946 only
  • In 1949, all species except the Blue Tit and the Starling were censused.
• Bird names are given as common names only in Blackburn and Gaston (2000). However, Beven (1976) provides scientific names. Most species are relatively easy for an American to determine the scientific name for, except for the Pheasant, of which there are apparently 3 in Britain. Beven (1976) indicates that the appropriate phesant is Phasianus colchicus.