2013 Mapping Songbird Territories in Woody Draws on the MPG Ranch

2013 Mapping Songbird Territories in Woody Draws on the MPG Ranch

October 1, 2013

Anna Noosen from the Avian Science Center details the second year of a study designed
to measure bird response to the restoration of woody draws.

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This report details the second year of a study designed to measure bird response to the restoration of woody draws on the MPG Ranch in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana.

We continued collecting data with an Apple iPad and the project-specific data collection application developed by GCS Research.

We conducted territory mapping from May 23rd to July 4th, on days with minimal precipitation and wind.

Figure 2. Distribution of target species observations across all visits to woody draw sites.

Figure 3. Target bird species observations in relation to visible shrub vegetation on aerial photographs.

We documented all evidence of breeding behavior during territory mapping. We also conducted weekly systematic nest searches on all sites targeting the four target species, and subsequently monitored all nests for outcome.

Figure 4. Locations of nests found along woody draw sites.

Conclusions • We successfully mapped locations for all 5 target species across 5 study sites. Crews mapped all sites at least 6 times during the breeding season. • Nest searching during territory mapping improved documentation of breeding evidence and improved linkage between bird locations and nests, while still permitting mapping of an entire site in a single morning period. • We had a more experienced nest searching field crew this summer. However, we did not successfully find all nests across all sites. If a complete picture of nest success for target species across the study area is important, we will need to allocate more field time to nest searching in the future. More nest searching days should increase the number of nests found, except in areas where rugged terrain and dense vegetation impede visibility and access. These areas are likely to continue to be under-represented in nest distributions. • Analysis of data collected this year will be provided in a Final Report. We will: o Compare data collected in 2012 with this year’s findings o Evaluate patterns of bird use and breeding activity among sites and habitat conditions o Map bird species territory locations in relation to habitat elements o Make recommendations for future data collection and analyses

Previous Research Report

MPG Spring Migration Count 2013 by RVRI

Next Research Report

Raptor View Research 2013 Report

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