2021 FALL KOS VIRTUAL MEETING PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Assessing spatial and temporal
patterns in abundances of wintering and migrating birds on the Tallgrass
Prairie National Preserve
Denise Cameron* and William E.
Jensen, Department of Biological Sciences, Emporia State University
The stopover and wintering
habitat needs of migrating grassland birds have been understudied in comparison
to habitat use during the breeding season. Substantial declines in grassland
bird populations may be attributed to widespread loss of grasslands as well as
management strategies that have led to a less variable grassland habitat
mosaic. The Flint Hills, an ecoregion of the Great Plains, is one of the
largest unfragmented remnants of the remaining 4% of the original extent of
tallgrass prairie in North America. Our research explores occurrence,
abundance, and habitat use patterns of migrating and wintering birds in this
region, with focus on an assemblage of nine target species. Data are being
collected over two years (fall, winter, and spring; 2020-2021 and 2021-2022) in
the upland habitats of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (TAPR), and
another property within the core of the Flint Hills, where managers use
patch-burn grazing to maintain a more intrinsic mosaic of grassland habitat
structure. Two survey methods are being utilized—transect counts followed by
point counts—which are novel in application to surveys of wintering and
migratory birds in grasslands. This presentation will focus on temporal
findings from the first year of data collection and community science surveys.
Our survey methods are intended to serve as templates for future bird surveys
on TAPR. Our research will also increase understanding of how patch-burn
grazing effects spatial habitat use of wintering and migrating grassland birds
in the Flint Hills.
Behavioral tendencies of Dickcissels affect parasitism of their nests by cowbirds
Jeane A. Thompson* and William E. Jensen, Emporia State
University
Intraspecific variation in
behavior can have important evolutionary and ecological consequences. Such
variation might involve tradeoffs, potentially affecting some, but not all
demographic parameters (e.g., components of reproductive success or survival).
Using the Dickcissel (Spiza americana) as a model
organism, we are investigating how conspicuous behavioral tendencies such as
boldness and activity might affect multiple sources of variation in
reproductive success. During the breeding season from mid-May to early August
of 2020 and 2021, we located and monitored 182 Dickcissel nests at the
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Here we compared the behavioral tendencies
of individual females and males to the rate and intensity with which their
nests were parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus
ater), which might be attracted by aspects of host
behavior. Of the nests that reached the incubation stage, 45% were parasitized.
Nests of females who exhibited bolder / riskier behaviors were less likely to
be parasitized, or if they resided in the territory of males who chipped more
frequently. Future analyses will explore the effects of behavioral tendencies
on daily survival rate and nestling condition. The observed patterns will give
us a better understanding of how selection might act on certain behavioral
tendencies and explain apparently maladaptive behaviors.
Lesser prairie-chicken
response to translocation to southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado
Elisabeth C. Teige* and David A. Haukos,
Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Division of Biology, Kansas
State University
Ongoing declines of lesser
prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) throughout its range has
generated conservation concern and sparked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to propose listing the species under the Endangered Species Act. To document
how lesser prairie-chickens respond to translocation as a conservation tool for
the species, 411 lesser prairie-chickens were translocated from west-central
Kansas to the U.S. Forest Service Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands in
southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, respectively, from 2016-2019.
Birds had either GPS or VHF transmitters and were monitored continually until
August 2020. Within two weeks of release, 22.8% of birds either died or were
never located. Overall, I estimated breeding season survival to be 0.44 ± 0.02
(SE) and nest success as 0.37 ± 0.04 (SE) but with a declining trend from
2017-2020. Vital rates were average to low compared to native populations. Male
high counts on established leks started to decline in 2021, two years following
active translocation. Translocated birds selected for Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP) land more than other cover types within their home ranges.
Lastly, on a local scale (300 m), I found lesser prairie-chickens used thicker
and taller cover primarily in CRP for nest sites. My results highlight the
importance of land management conservation and its role in the conservation of
lesser prairie-chicken populations. The translocation effort appears to have been
a short-term success but current vital rates may not be enough to overcome
inherent limiting factors for the population and for the translocation to be
deemed a long-term success.
Lesser Prairie-Chicken
Survival and Space Use After Megafire in the Mixed-Grass Prairie
*Nicholas Parker, Kansas State
University
Daniel Sullins, Kansas State University
David Haukos, US Geological Survey, Kansas
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Kent Fricke, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
Christian Hagen, Oregon State University
The Starbuck fire was the
largest fire in recorded Kansas history, burning approximately 254,000 ha in
Kansas and Oklahoma in March 2017. The Starbuck fire was one wildfire in a
growing trend of wildfires that have increased in size and severity worldwide
and in the Great Plains due to climate change and decades of fire suppression.
Within the mixed-grass prairie of Kansas, fire historically helped maintain
diverse grasslands and prevent woody encroachment, providing habitat for many
wildlife species, including the imperiled lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus
pallidicinctus). While small scale fire can be beneficial for lesser
prairie-chickens, the effects of such large fires on lesser prairie-chickens
are unknown. We used data collected on lesser prairie-chicken survival and
space use before (2014–2016) and after (2018–2020) the 2017 Starbuck fire to
evaluate lesser prairie-chicken response to megafire. Male lek attendance fell
67% post-fire, and lek activity shifted to areas surrounded by more cropland.
Survival rates and home range sizes of lesser prairie-chickens did not differ
before and after the fire. However, home ranges did contain 5 times more
percent cover of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields after the fire. Along
with lek attendance results, this suggests CRP/cropland landscapes with
disjointed fire fuel availability can provide refuge for lesser
prairie-chickens during extreme events.
Evaluating the avian and
vegetative communities on strip mined land: Year One Update
Luke Headings*, Andrew George,
Christine Brodsky (Department of Biology, Pittsburg State University)
The Mined Land Wildlife Areas
(MLWAs) of Southeast Kansas represent a diverse patchwork of ecosystems in
varying stage of succession, including grasslands, shrublands, and forests. The
goal of our study is to assess the conservation value of strip-mined land for
bird communities. We continued with our second year of data collection this
summer during which we conducted fixed radius point counts and vegetation
sampling at 84 locations in SE Kansas and SW Missouri. A total of 75 species
were detected, including 14 species of greatest conservation need, as
identified in the Kansas Wildlife Action Plan. We also located and monitored 71
nests from three shrub-nesting species, 14% of which fledged young. Preliminary
analyses indicate that reclaimed mined land may support similar bird
communities to those adjacent unmined areas. However, it remains unclear if
sites dominated by invasive plant species are negatively affecting individual
species’ presence or nesting success. Ongoing work will continue to evaluate
the relationships between mined land vegetation and bird communities to inform
habitat restoration on the MLWAs.
Evaluating the role of
vegetation phenology metrics in the nest-site selection of a declining prairie
grouse
Ashley A. Messier*
Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State University. Daniel S. Sullins Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State
University. David A. Haukos
U.S. Geological Survey, Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit,
Department of Biology, Kansas State University. Christopher M. O'Meilia U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a remotely sensed index often used to monitor the
health, productivity, and phenology of living vegetation based on the
absorption and reflectance of red and near infrared light, respectively. This
metric has been used for decades in ecological studies and may yield insight
into the quality and availability of reproductive habitat for at-risk grassland
species. The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is one example
of a declining grassland obligate in need of conservation. Given this species’
dependence on grasslands and concerns about future population viability, an
understanding of reproductive habitat availability at relevant spatial scales
within remaining grasslands is needed, yet difficult to attain using
ground-based measurements alone. We sought to evaluate the role of remotely
sensed phenology metrics (amplitude, duration, etc.) on lesser prairie-chicken
nest-site selection. Using cloud-free Landsat 8 and yearly AQUA MODIS RSP
(remote sensing phenology) satellite scenes, snapshot NDVI values and yearly
phenology values were extracted at 69 lesser prairie-chicken nest sites and at
two paired random locations per nest at two study sites in Kansas. Preliminary
results suggest that phenology metrics alone are not reliable predictors of
lesser prairie-chicken nest-site selection, as no candidate model outperformed
the null model. This may be due to potential interactions between phenology and
climatic and disturbance variables not yet assessed or to the resolution of the
satellite scenes used. Hereafter we plan to incorporate additional nests from
across the lesser prairie-chicken range as well as evaluate these same
phenology metrics at brood locations.
Shedding “light” on migration
mortalities: New research underway at New Mexico State University
Dylan M. Osterhaus*, New
Mexico State University Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology
During migration, birds are
exposed to various stressors including starvation, predation, extreme weather,
and human alterations to the landscape. As a result of these stressors, many
birds will die during their migratory journey. In recent years, multiple
mass-mortality events have been documented during migration, with hundreds and
even thousands of deceased birds documented during each event. Early in
September 2020, a mass-mortality event occurred within south-central New Mexico
and across the desert southwest in correlation with extreme weather. At the
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in south-central New Mexico, hundreds of
deceased birds were found near buildings which are illuminated by floodlights
at night. The attraction to, and entrapment of nocturnally migrating birds in
beams of light during periods of bad weather has been documented in various
instances historically. However, there have been no large-scale quantitative
studies conducted which have documented the potential impacts of point source
light pollution on migrating birds. Therefore, my research will focus on
examining the potential impacts of point source light pollution on nocturnally
migrating birds in south-central New Mexico. Over the next four years I will be
monitoring 55 sites (some with light at night, some without) throughout a 250
square-mile area of south-central New Mexico during fall migration using
nocturnal acoustic monitors as well as next generation weather radar (NEXRAD).
Update on Red-tailed Hawks
wintering in northeastern Kansas
Lucas H. DeCicco*,
Bryce W. Robinson, Mark B. Robbins, Brian L. Sullivan, University of Kansas
Over the past three years we
have deployed 12 GPS-GSM tracking units on wintering Red-tailed Hawks in
northeastern Kansas. The focus of this research is to identify breeding
provenance of certain phenotypes or subspecies and in doing so, understand the
breeding distributions of subspecies occurring in remote areas of northern
Canada. In doing so, we have now deployed transmitters on individuals of
subspecies abieticola and harlani
and have recovered breeding locations for seven of these individuals so far. Highlights
include the following. Two birds have provided us with two annual cycles of
data and showed very high fidelity to winter and breeding territories and
migration route. All 12 birds tracked during spring 2021 showed very consistent
migration direction, independent of phenotype, with all birds departing
northeastern Kansas in a northwestern direction and all migrated through
central Alberta. We have found notable overlap in distribution of breeding harlani and abieticola,
highlighted by a phenotypic harlani nesting within
150km of an abieticola in northern Alberta. Finally,
we have shown notably early returning date of two dark-morph harlani, both of which returned to their wintering range in
the Great Plains by 22 September. The information we present here provides new
information on migratory connectivity and breeding distributions of multiple
phenotypes of Red-tailed Hawks and begins to provide information for a better
understanding of this complex species.