HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS OF COASTAL WINTERING PASSERINES

The species composition, relative abundance and vegetation community a ssociations of a wintering passerine assemblage were studied on 7 site s in north Norfolk between 1989 and 1994. A total of 20 species was re corded including coastal specialists as well as habitat generalists; r elative abundance varied greatly from Chaffinch and Great Tit with sin gle records, to Twite and Skylark with many hundreds. Most species sho wed strong association with, and aversion to, particular vegetation co mmunity types, but the relationships with vegetation communities varie d between species. The communities with the higher bird densities were Limonium, Suaeda vera and Suaeda/Salicornia saltmarshes. Amongst the least used vegetation communities were Halimione saltmarsh and mobile dunes. There was little evidence of any seasonal change in habitat ass ociations. The findings are discussed both in terms of vegetation comm unity availability in north Norfolk and in the wider context of coasta l zone planning and the threats and opportunities open to wintering pa sserines by differing responses to sea-level rise in eastern England.