Abstract:
Grassland bird populations have been declining in the United States. A main reason for this is habitat loss from human-related practices such as agriculture, livestock overgrazing, urban development, and habitat fragmentation. However, weather patterns also play a major role in nesting success. Heavy rainfall during the breeding season has been associated with low nest success whereas heavy rain during the preceding year has been associated with high nest success. This may be due to the direct effects of rainfall during critical nesting periods and indirect effects of grassland productivity. The University of Montana’s Avian Science Center has been collecting data on avian species abundance and nest success of grassland focal species Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri), Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineius), McCown’s Longspur (Rynchophanes mccownii), and Chestnut-Collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), since 2013. I assisted with field data collection in the summer of 2018. This project will examine the correlation between rainfall data and nest fate as well as average clutch size for the four focal species compared across six years of data (2013-2018). This information can be useful in informing grassland bird conservation to better understand the causes behind grassland avian population decline.
Kaleigh Keohane 