The Truckee River in California and Nevada is subject to diverse water
regimes and a corresponding variety of now rates. Original riparian v
egetation has been altered by these variable flow rates and by a varie
ty of human uses resulting in loss of native riparian vegetation from
its historic extent. We conducted bird surveys along the Truckee River
during spring 1993 to (1) determine relationships between birds and t
he present vegetation; (2) determine the importance of different veget
ation types to sensitive bird species that have declined recently in t
he western United States due to competition from exotic plant species,
cowbird (Molothrus ater) parasitism, reduction in nesting habitat, or
other unidentified reasons; and (3) establish a monitoring program an
d collect baseline data for future comparisons. The most frequently de
tected bird species throughout the study was the Brown-headed Cowbird.
The greatest number of bird species (98 of 116) was found in the nati
ve mixed willow (Salix spp.) riparian scrub vegetation type. We recomm
end protecting the remaining native riparian vegetation types for bird
habitat along the Truckee River.