FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Molothrus ater | Brown-Headed Cowbird 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
There were no references in the literature concening direct or indirect
mortality of brown-headed cowbirds due to fire.  Adults could easily
escape fire.  Nests and young are vulnerable to fire but unlikely to be
exposed to fire because in most areas fire seasons are not coincident
with early nesting seasons.  Literature references are mostly on the
topic of bird use of recently burned versus unburned plots.
Brown-headed cowbird use of burns is likely to be related to food
availability and availability of perches.  It is also likely to be
related to the presence of host species nests.

In Connecticut a 1982 census revealed that brown-headed cowbirds were
more abundant on old fields that had been burned in spring of 1981 than
on unburned fields.  Vegetation in these plots consisted of shrubs and
saplings (mostly red maple [Acer rubrum]) [17].

In Kansas a survey of birds was made on successional (i.e., undisturbed)
plots dominated by shrubs and prairie plots dominated by grasses that
had been mowed and burned.  Brown-headed cowbirds occurred only on the
shrub plots; none were observed on the mowed and burned plots.  There
was an extreme drop in the numbers of other bird species on the mowed
and burned plots as well [10].  On the Curtis Prairie, Wisconsin, there
was little difference between brown-headed cowbird recapture rates on
unburned plots and on recently burned plots [33].

In South Dakota a prescribed fire was conducted in mixed-grass prairie
in May 1983.  A bird census was conducted on the burned area and on an
adjacent unburned area in June and July of the same year.  Brown-headed
cowbirds were observed on both burned and unburned areas with no
significant differences in numbers of observations [27].

In Arizona an October 1973 census of nonbreeding birds in ponderosa pine
(Pinus ponderosa) stands showed brown-headed cowbirds with a slightly
higher prominence value (product of number of individuals and frequency
of occurrence) on unburned plots than on plots that had been burned by
wildfire in May 1972 [7].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Effects of Fire Exclusion:  Fire exclusion in mixed-grass prairie has
allowed shrubs to invade grasslands.  In North Dakota brown-headed
cowbird density was higher on shrubby plots than on shrubless plots [5].


FIRE USE : 
NO-ENTRY


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Molothrus ater | Brown-Headed Cowbird