Use of Lake Maurepas Wetlands by Migrating Birds

P.C. Stouffer and Jason A. Zoller

Project Overview

Louisiana is an integral part of one of the nation's largest migratory routes for Neotropical migratory birds, many of which use the Maurepas wetlands during spring and fall migrations. Large portions of swamp in the Maurepas wetlands have converted to marsh in the last 50 years, a trend that is likely to continue. We were interested in the effect of landscape change upon these Neotropical migratory birds, so we compared the distribution and abundance of birds in the Maurepas wetlands during migrations to the Pearl River basin, a more intact system. In particular, we wanted to determine the type of habitat birds select as stopover points in migratory routes. It was important to determine if birds either avoid certain wetland types, such as anthropogenic marsh, or concentrate in other wetland types such as swamp.

Birds were found in higher densities over swamp compared to marsh, leading to the fundamental conclusion that degradation of swamp removes the habitat most heavily used by migrating birds in the Lake Maurepas system. The Maurepas system was not as heavily utilized as the bottomland hardwood forests of the Pearl River basin in the spring. The Pearl River basin has a much greater percentage of forested wetland area than the Maurepas system, indicating the importance of this habitat type to migratory birds.