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Abstract

We compared annual and seasonal abundances of the avian community among land cover types at Huguenot Memorial Park (MP), Jacksonville, northeastern Florida, from January 2017 to August 2020. Land cover types included the coastal scrub, banks of the St. Johns River, intertidal marsh of Ft. George Inlet, beach facing the Atlantic Ocean, peninsula that extends from the beach, and dunes located between the inlet and ocean. Of the 129 surveys conducted, we recorded 155 taxa, of which eight species were state or federally listed birds. We recorded the greatest richness in the inlet area and the greatest abundance in the peninsula. Total abundances were greater in spring and summer than autumn and winter. Royal Tern (Sterna maxima), Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla), and Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) were the most common species in the park and their offspring contributed to the greater numbers recorded in spring and summer in the peninsula and dunes. Taxon richness was greatest in 2019 and fewest in 2018. The hurricanes of 2017 and 2018 may have contributed to lower richness in the coastal scrub-riverside and inlet areas and sand redistribution across the dunes and peninsula may have contributed to increased counts of Red Knot (Calidris canutus) and Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) in the latter years. Local and regional monitoring of prey availability, predator effects, and habitat quality of coastal areas in conjunction with avian population surveys would increase understanding of the impacts of extreme storm events, sea level rise, and coastal development on roosting, foraging, and breeding activities.

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