Abstract
Territory mapping is considered one of the most accurate methods for estimating forest bird
densities and studying the subtle relationships between birds and their habitats. Nevertheless, the
territory mapping method has rarely been applied to estimate entire bird communities in tropical
and subtropical regions of Asia. We conducted territory mappings in an area of around 40 ha at a
mid-elevation site in Taiwan for a period of 20 consecutive weeks (40 census days in total) from
early March to late July 2005 to establish field protocols of territory mapping and examine the effectiveness
of this method in detecting the avian community composition. Fifty-seven bird species
from 5719 registrations were recorded during the 40 field censuses. The results suggested that the
optimal period for territory mapping at the study site was during 10~12 wk from early April to late
June, because during this period, the prevalences of most breeding species were highest. Within
this period of time, we registered 88% of the breeding species recorded historically. Repeatedly
playing 2 repetitions of the territorial songs of the 14 commonest species did not significantly affect
the total number of breeding species or registrations recorded on each census. These results
indicate that with a good trail system, the territory mapping method is suitable for censusing bird
communities in forests of Taiwan and similar habitats in Asia. However, due to the non-territorial
behavior, asynchronous breeding season, and multiple broodings of birds in tropical and subtropical
regions, the efficiency of territory mapping method is not as good as that in temperate regions.