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10 Wildlife of the Highlands Elizabeth A. Johnson Introduction The four-state Highlands region is characterized by a diverse array of natural and man-made communities, from rocky outcrops to boggy seeps, from large lakes to small seasonal pools, and from extensive forests and wetlands to agricultural fields. These various communities and their plant life in turn support abundant and diverse animal life—both vertebrate and invertebrate, common and rare. The wildlife of the Highlands region is protected and managed by the individual state agencies charged with their care. Each state maintains a list of endangered and threatened species (species in danger of extirpation or extinction or those close to becoming endangered), as well as species thought to be in decline (species of conservation concern; see appendix 10.1). This chapter will introduce some of the rare species as well as common wildlife of the Highlands, with an emphasis on terrestrial and aquatic habitats and the species they support. Animals of Deciduous and Coniferous Forests of the Highlands The Highlands region is perhaps best known today for its extensive oakhickory and mixed deciduous forests. The health and integrity of these large, intact forest communities is vital to the survival of many animal species, but none more so than the birds that nest in the interiors of forests. These species include songbirds such as the scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea), wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), and eastern wood peewee (Contopus virens). Also found in these forests are raptors, such as the sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus), Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii), northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), and broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus). A dense forest understory offers good habitat for such ground nesters as the ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus), Wildlife of the Highlands 201 which forages in decaying leaf litter for beetle grubs and other invertebrates. The extensive canopy provides nesting sites for the cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea), which prefers to glean tiny caterpillars from the upper branches. Raptors prey on the abundant small mammals in the forest and seek out the larger trees capable of supporting their heavy nests. The unbroken canopies of these expansive forests are an important deterrent to various predators and nest parasites that prefer more open-edge habitats. Nest and egg predators such as the raccoon (Procyon lotor), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), and house cat (Felis catus) are rarely found in the largest patches of contiguous forests; instead they flourish along the edges of smaller woodlands. The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), a raptor and songbird predator that also prefers edge habitat, has limited the ability of redshouldered hawks to nest successfully in fragmented, more open forests in New Jersey (Liguori 2003b). Likewise, the cowbird (Molothrus ater), an important nest parasite, frequents forests and field edges but avoids deeper forests. Cowbirds opportunistically deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds and cause the failure of 20 to 50 percent of the nests of their unwitting hosts’ own young (Askins 2000). Half of the birds that nest in the Highlands are neotropical migrants— birds that migrate south each fall to spend the winter months in Central and South America, returning the following spring to breed (USDA Forest Service 2002). For this reason, the quality of both their summer nesting and wintering habitats are important to their survival. Located along the Atlantic flyway, the larger blocks of forest are also critically important to birds in transit on their spring migration to breeding areas farther north. The Hudson River valley is especially noted as a movement corridor during both the spring and fall migrations. Some of the best-known viewing areas during fall migration are at Hook Mountain and along the Hudson River and cliff slopes near upper Nyack, New York (Burger and Liner 2005), and at Scotts Mountain, New Jersey. The extensive Highlands forests are also home to a variety of wide-ranging mammals such as the black bear (Ursus americanus), bobcat (Lynx rufus) (see plate 25), river otter (Lutra canadensis), and gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). The largest of these—black bears and bobcats—have substantial home ranges and rely on the vast expanses of contiguous forests to provide adequate food and shelter. Corridors between individual patches of forest are also vital for safe passage because these animals often move great distances during the year. For example, male black bears have home ranges that extend eight to twenty-five square miles, and bobcats can move up to twelve miles in a...

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