A COMPARISON OF 2 BIRD SURVEY TECHNIQUES USED IN A SUBTROPICAL FOREST

Mist netting and point counting have been used equally in the Neotropi cs for the purpose of surveying bird communities, although their effec tiveness is poorly known. We compared mist netting and point counting data collected from the same survey points in a mature subtropical for est in Belize to assess their descriptions of a bird community within a small region and across many survey points. We surveyed each point f or three consecutive days using one technique and then for three addit ional days using the other technique. Mist netting and point counting detected only 25% and 60%, respectively of all forest species. The spe cies lists from mist netting and point counting had similar proportion s of species in groupings based on families, abundance, and migratory status, and in diet, habitat use, and foraging substrate guilds. Speci es lists from mist netting had a greater proportion of understory and small species than the species list from point counting. Species lists from mist netting and point counting bad smaller proportions of large -bodied and rare species than a local checklist. Point counting detect ed more species per point with greater time efficiency and more specie s per point in 25 of 28 guilds than did mist netting. Point counting d etected three common species less frequently than mist netting, wherea s mist netting detected 38 common species less frequently than point c ounting. Point counting detected understory species as frequently as m ist netting did at individual points. The two methods had > 50% agreem ent on the presence of only four species at individual points. Both te chniques detected different sets of common species with similar freque ncy, although point counting detected many more uncommon species. Alth ough using both techniques was more effective than using either alone, point counting alone was significantly more efficient for conducting bird surveys.