Of course this depends on how you measure success. What was once a parcel of nonvegetated ground is now a forest, and that alone is success. Wilson's Warbler is one of several Neotropical migrants that stops at Coyote Creek. We are not sure why this is, but one hypothesis is that younger, more actively growing trees provide more food for insects than older trees. Bird species that have increased in abundance over the time of the study include resident, breeding, wintering, and migratory species, suggesting that it is not only specific types of birds that are benefiting, but a wide variety.
Annual fluctuations occur, but the pattern is clearly increasing.
We've been especially pleased to see increases in several rare or threatened species. Since the restoration, this species has done excellently. Mist-netting, point counts, and the breeding bird census all show that it has become more common on site over the 10 years of monitoring. Similarly, the state listed Willow Flycatcher, which bred in this watershed a century ago but is now extirpated and relegated to being a rare migrant, has increased noticeably over the years. A good number of the birds that show up at Coyote Creek are migrants on their way to somewhere else.