ABSTRACT
Birds, particularly song birds, form a prominent and widely appreciated facet of urban and suburban areas and are often considered in city planning, housing developments, and landscaping programs. Vegetation tends to be rich and varied, with a good representation and diversity of trees, shrubs, and open lawns. Fruit-bearing and flowering plants often dominate. Feeding stations and bird baths frequently provide significant artificial food and water supplements for door-yard species. Telephone poles and wires as well as rooftops are used extensively as song and lookout perches. Bird densities tend to be high, but diversity is generally low. Traffic and pedestrian disturbances exclude shyer species. Cats may cause heavy predation. Streets and particularly service alleys provide convenient and effective routes for foot transects. The number of individuals of each species recorded per block provides an index of relative abundance useful for documenting seasonal change, year-to-year change, or between-city comparisons.
