Abstract: As an important part of urban green space, bird community composition of urban parks is closely related to habitat quality and can serve as a key indicator of urban environment. Beijing Wenyu River Park is the largest ecological space in Beijing City. The construction of the park started in 2019. To provide scientific supports for park management, we monitored the changes of bird diversity during the construction. From September 2020 to August 2021, monthly surveys were carried out at three sites, including Qinghe River Camp Park built in 2010, Chaoyang Demonstration Area of Wenyu River Park built in September 2020, and the planned area at confluence of the Wenyu River and Qinghe River, using transect line methods. On this basis, habitat quality assessment was carried out using remote sensing interpretation and the surveys of food-sourced plant species diversity. A total of 65 bird species from 13 orders and 29 families were recorded, including 4 national second-class protected species. The confluence of the Wenyu River and the Qinghe River recorded highest abundance, number and diversity of protected species of birds among three surveyed sites, with an averaged Shannon index of 2.20±0.30. The habitat quality was at an excellent level. Birds in Chaoyang Demonstration Area of Wenyu River Park had a relatively high number of protected and threatened bird species, with an averaged Shannon index of 1.89±0.28. The habitat quality was at a good level. The richness and abundance of birds in Qinghe River Camp Country Park was the lowest, with an averaged Shannon index of 1.49±0.27. Nevertheless, habitat quality was assessed as excellent. Our results indicated that the confluence of the Wenyu River and the Qinghe River was the most important site in maintaining the bird diversity of Wenyu River Park, which should be protected as a core area by reducing human construction. In the future, the management of Beijing Wenyu River Park should consider the habitat requirement of birds to maintain ecosystem services for supporting a greater urban biodiversity.

Key words: urban park, bird biodiversity, α diversity, habitat quality, spatial variation.