2020 Intermountain Grassland Songbird Project Report

2020 Intermountain Grassland Songbird Project Report

November 25, 2020
We compared ground nesting songbird density in native, degraded and restored habitats.

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In 2020 we conducted a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility of studying songbird reproductive success in grassland habitats on MPG Ranch.

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We successfully found 90 nests from eight species across seven plots in native, exotic, and restored (irrigated and non-irrigated) grassland habitats.

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Characteristics of restored grasslands can vary substantially based on planting mix, restoration methods employed, and a host of local environmental factors; these differences may affect songbird breeding success

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Methods

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Nest searchers found 90 nests from eight species across all habitat categories

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Grassland birds cue into specific habitat features for breeding, and species have evolved specialized nest placement strategies to shelter young and avoid predators.

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Many of the nests we found were tucked deeply into the base of bunchgrasses, like this western meadowlark nest

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Songbird young are especially vulnerable until they are developed enough to leave their nest, and each stage of nesting presents different risks to survival

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Additional sampling will reveal whether lower nest success in exotic forage habitat is due to characteristics of the one plot we searched in 2020, or associated more broadly with exotic forage habitat.

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The leading cause of nest failure was depredation

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The 2020 pilot season gave us proof of concept that we can find sufficient nests to analyze reproductive success for at least three species commonly found in western intermountain grasslands.

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