HABITAT AND LANDSCAPE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PRESENCE OF INDIVIDUAL BREEDING BIRD SPECIES IN WOODLAND FRAGMENTS

Bird species distributions in 151 woods (0.02-30 ha) in a lowland arab le landscape in eastern England were investigated using logistic regre ssion analysis. Of 31 species included in the study, only Marsh Tit Pa rus palustris, Nightingale Luscinia mega-rhynchos and Chiffchaff Phyll oscopus collybita failed to breed in woods of <0.5 ha. For many woodla nd species, the probability of breeding was positively related to wood land area and other variables decribing the woods themselves. For othe r species, including Blackbird Turdus merula and Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, woodland perimeter, rather than area, was significant. Variabl es describing the landscape surrounding the woods were important for b oth woodland species and those more typical of open country. The lengt h of hedgerow in the surrounding landscape was positively related to t he breeding presence in particular woods of Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus, Robin Erithacus rubecula, Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Gard en Warbler Sylvia borin and Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, and the area of surrounding woodland was important for Long-tailed Tit, Great-spott ed Woodpecker Dendrocopos major and Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. The p resence of Treecreeper Certhia familiaris was negatively related to th e distance to the nearest wood, whereas that of Tree Sparrow Passer mo ntanus was negatively related to the amount of woodland in the surroun ding landscape. Thus species breeding distributions were influenced by factors associated with the wider landscape, on a scale larger than t hat of their immediate habitats.