Breeding Season Bird Use of Recently Restored versus Natural Wetlands in New York

Restoration of drained wetlands may contribute significantly to conservation of habitats for wetland birds, and state and federal agencies throughout the country rely on restoration and creation of wetlands to mitigate habitat losses to development. However, it is unclear if restored systems replace the habitat functions of natural wetlands, and few direct comparisons of multiple sites have been made. Three years after restoration, we compared the relative abundance and density of birds using 18 restored wetlands and 8 natura wetlands located in northern New York. Birds were classified as wetland dependent, wetland associated, or nonwetland. Abundances of species and of individuals in all 3 groups did not differ (P > 0.05) between restored and natural wetlands in any year. Densities of species in all 3 groups were consistently but not significantly lower at restored sites. Densities of individuals in the wetland-associated category and nonwetland category were significantly lower at restored sites for the first years following restoration. Bird communities were significantly less similar between restored and natural sites than among restored sites. However, many of these differences may not persist following natural successional development of the restored sites. The long-term persistence of appropriate plant communities will determine whether or not restored sites provide bird habitat comparable to natural wetlands. The restoration program successfully increased the amount of bird habitat available in the region. However, hectare-for-hectare, the restored wetland sites did not replace the habitat functions of natural wetlands during the time period of this study.