66 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



6. DECIDUOUS FOREST BIOTA 



Occupies areas with rainfall through- 

 out the year, especially in spring. 



"The extensive area chiefly east of the 

 Mississippi and south of the Great 

 Lakes, which was formerly occupied by 

 an almost unbroken forest of a score or 

 more of deciduous trees. A few prairies 

 occur in the southern portion of the area 

 and evergreen needle-leaved trees occupy 

 bluffs and shallow soil in the mountains. 

 The commonest trees are species of 

 oak (Quercus), hickory (Hicoria), chest- 

 nut (Castanea), beech {Fagus), maple 

 (Acer), walnut (Jitglans), tulip {Lirio- 

 dendron), and ash {Fraxinus)." 



The mammals include the Virginia 

 deer {Odocoileus virginianus subspp.), 

 black bear {Ursus a. americanus) , bob- 

 cat {Lynx r. ruffus), gray fox {Urocyon c. 

 cinereoargenteus) , red fox {Vulpes fulva), 

 opossum {Didelphis v. virginiana), cot- 

 tontail rabbit {Sylvilagus floridanus 

 subspp.), and gray squirrel {Sciurus 

 carolinensis subspp.)- 



Breeding birds include the following: 

 ruffed grouse, wild turkey, passenger 

 pigeon (extinct), mourning dove, turkey 

 vulture, black vulture (south), swallow- 

 tailed kite, white-tailed kite, Mississippi 

 kite (south), marsh hawk, sharp- 

 shinned hawk. Cooper's hawk, red-tailed 

 hawk, red-shouldered hawk, broad- 

 winged hawk, pigeon hawk, sparrow 

 hawk, barn owl, long-eared owl, barred 

 owl, saw-whet owl, screech owl, great 

 horned owl, Carolina paroquet (for- 

 merly), j^ellow-billed cuckoo, black- 

 billed cuckoo, ivory-billed woodpecker 

 (south), hairy woodpecker (north), 

 southern hairy woodpecker (south), 

 southern downy woodpecker (south), 

 downy woodpecker (north), red-cock- 

 aded woodpecker, pileated woodpecker 

 (south), northern pileated woodpecker 

 (north), red-headed woodpecker, red- 

 bellied woodpecker, flicker (south), 

 northern flicker (north), Ohuck-will's- 

 widow (south), whip-poor-will, night- 

 hawk, chimney swift, ruby-throated 

 hummingbird, kingbird, crested fly- 

 catcher, phoebe, wood pewee, Acadian. 



flycatcher, blue jay, crow, fish crow 

 (southeastern), cowbird, orchard oriole, 

 Baltimore oriole, purple grackle (Atlan- 

 tic Coast south), chipping sparrow, 

 Bachman's sparrow, song sparrow, tow- 

 hee, cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, 

 blue grosbeak (south), painted bunting 

 (south), scarlet tanager, summer tanager 

 (southerly), purple martin, cliff swallow, 

 cedar waxwing, red-eyed vireo, warbling 

 vireo, yellow-throated vireo, white- 

 eyed vireo, black and white warbler, 

 worm-eating warbler, Bachman's war- 

 bler (south), blue-winged warbler, 

 golden-winged warbler, parula warbler 

 (south), northern parula warbler (north) 

 pine warbler, oven-bird, Kentucky war- 

 bler, yellow-breasted chat, redstart, 

 mockingbird, catbird, brown thrasher, 

 Carolina wren, Bewick's wren, house 

 wren, white-breasted nuthatch, brown- 

 headed nuthatch (south), tufted tit- 

 mouse, chickadee, Carolina chickadee 

 (south), blue-gray gnatcatcher, wood 

 thrush, robin, southern robin, and 

 bluebird. 



Breeding birds whose habitat is gener- 

 ally limited to pre-forest or other early 

 stages of succession include the follow- 

 ing: upland plover, killdeer, bob-white, 

 goldfinch, vesper sparrow, field sparrow, 

 indigo bunting, loggerhead shrike 

 (south), migrant shrike (north), yellow-- 

 throated warbler, and prairie warbler. 



Breeding birds preferring a moist 

 habitat, generally near a stream or 

 swamp, include the following: boat- 

 tailed grackle (southeast), swamp spar- 

 row, tree swallow, bank swallow, rough- 

 winged swallow, prothonotary warbler, 

 Swainson's warbler (south), sycamore 

 warbler, Louisiana water-thrush, Mary- 

 land yellow-throat, northern yellow- 

 throat, hooded warbler, and short- 

 billed marsh wren. 



Breeding birds whose habitat is 

 limited to the presence of water, gener- 

 ally a local condition, include the follow- 

 ing: merganser, wood duck, great blue 

 heron, egret (south), snowy egret 

 (south), little blue heron (south), green 

 heron, black-crowned night heron, yel- 

 low-crowned night heron (south), sand- 



