Detecting and monitoring elusive marsh breeding birds in the Great Lakes

Session: 09. - Modeling, Detecting, and Managing Rarity

Douglas Tozer, Bird Studies Canada, dtozer@birdscanada.org
Myles Falconer, Bird Studies Canada, mfalconer@birdscanada.org
Annie Bracey, Natural Resources Research Inst., brace005@d.umn.edu
Erin Giese, UW-Green Bay's Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, giesee@uwgb.edu
Thomas Gehring, Department of Biology and Institute for Great Lakes Research, gehri1tm@cmich.edu
Greg Grabas, Environment and Climate Chanage Canada, greg.grabas@canada.ca
Robert Howe, UW-Green Bay, hower@uwgb.edu
Gerald Niemi, University of Minnesota-Duluth, gniemi@d.umn.edu
Christopher Norment, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, cnorment@brockport.edu

Abstract

Marsh breeding birds are notoriously elusive, with variation in detectability across species, regions, seasons, time of day, and weather. As a result, considerable advances have been made in developing scientifically rigorous, yet cost-effective field protocols for detecting and monitoring these rare and secretive species. These include the protocols of the North American Marsh Bird Monitoring Program, Bird Studies Canada’s Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program, and the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program. In this talk, we briefly review the history of the development of these protocols for use in monitoring elusive marsh breeding birds in the Great Lakes, followed by a synopsis of recent work to refine and improve the protocols for use in the region. We focus on showing that 10-min broadcast-assisted point count surveys are superior to the 15-min surveys currently promoted and practiced throughout the Great Lakes. We also briefly describe other recommendations, including a revised minimum temperature cut off of 0°C (compared to +16°C in some guidelines), and use of both morning and evening surveys (compared to morning only or evening only, depending on which is deemed superior regionally). We conclude by discussing the cost-savings and other advantages associated with our recommended refinements and improvements.

1. Keyword
Great Lakes basin

2. Keyword
marshes

3. Keyword
biomonitoring

4. Additional Keyword
detectability