Perches
Perches are structures used by birds, insects, mice, lizards, snakes, and other animals.
Evolution
Perching is a consequence of flying.
Jon Fjeldså, Les Christidis, and Per G. P. Ericson, The Largest Avian Radiation: The Evolution of Perching Birds, or the Order Passeriformes (Barcelona: Lynx, 2020).
Use
On birds landing.
KleinHeerenbrink, M., France, L.A., Brighton, C.H. et al. Optimization of avian perching manoeuvres. Nature 607, 91–96 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04861-4
On perch footholds.
William R. T. Roderick et al., ‘Birds Land Reliably on Complex Surfaces by Adapting Their Foot-Surface Interactions Upon Contact’, ELife 8 (2019): e46415, https://doi.org/10/gr2jns.
On using perch sites as part of models to predict habitat suitability. Perch abundance is an indicator of habitat use by raptors or passerines. Scattered woody vegetation and other substrates provide perch sites for foraging. Several bird species that feed on arthropods and small animals use perch sites while searching for prey on the ground. Thus, the absence of suitable perches may limit access to already constrained prey populations in modified habitats.
Chris L. Lauver, Willian H. Busby, and Jerry L. Whistler, ‘Testing a GIS Model of Habitat Suitability for a Declining Grassland Bird’, Environmental Management 30, no. 1 (2002): 88–97, https://doi.org/10/dj995q.
On perch sites and object classification as part of a process to identify potential habitats.
Benoît Jobin et al., ‘Object-Based Classification as an Alternative Approach to the Traditional Pixel-Based Classification to Identify Potential Habitat of the Grasshopper Sparrow’, Environmental Management 41, no. 1 (2008): 20–31, https://doi.org/10/fbwgjh.
Assessing perch density (such as number/ha).
Benoît Jobin and Gilles Falardeau, ‘Habitat Associations of Grasshopper Sparrows in Southern Québec’, Northeastern Naturalist 17, no. 1 (2010): 135–46, https://doi.org/10/bd6mpf.
On the use of perches to increase supply through seed rain. Perches can attract seed rain from birds and aid in the assisted restoration of forests and woodlands.
Ing Toh, Melina Gillespie, and David Lamb, ‘The Role of Isolated Trees in Facilitating Tree Seedling Recruitment at a Degraded Sub-Tropical Rainforest Site’, Restoration Ecology 7, no. 3 (1999): 288–97, https://doi.org/10/b95hjh.
Tommaso La Mantia et al., ‘Vertebrate-Mediated Seed Rain and Artificial Perches Contribute to Overcome Seed Dispersal Limitation in a Mediterranean Old Field’, Restoration Ecology 27, no. 6 (2019): 1393–1400, https://doi.org/10/gr2jn6.
Structural Characteristics
On the structural characteristics of perch sites (and is an example of how to introduce them).
Miles E. Becker et al., ‘Characteristics of Foraging Perch-Sites Used by Loggerhead Shrikes’, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 121, no. 1 (2009): 104–11, https://doi.org/10/cs43d6.
Artificial Perches
On the use of poles as perches.
Katsura Mikami et al., ‘Vertical Space Utilization by Urban Birds and Their Relationship to Electric Poles and Wires’, Landscape and Ecological Engineering 18, no. 1 (2022): 19–30, https://doi.org/10/gr2jn7.
Issues Studying Perch Sites
Lindenmayer, David B. Forest Pattern and Ecological Process: A Synthesis of 25 Years of Research. Collingwood, AU: CSIRO, 2009.
The focus of work on vertebrates has been on arboreal marsupials. Very limited research has occurred on other cavity-using taxa such as birds, bats, and reptiles. This chapter is heavily biased toward trees with hollows as a key part of the forest overstorey. Less (nothing? hard to believe) has been written about other parts of the overstorey, such as the canopy or upper lateral branches. This is for good reason – almost nothing is known about them. Tree canopies are likely to be very species-rich environments for groups such as invertebrates . These areas are important for foraging by arboreal marsupials, such as the Greater Glider, and some species of birds. However, beyond these broad but simple statements, quantitative research is lacking on the canopies and other attributes of overstorey trees in montane ash forests.
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