Long-billed Curlew Range-wide Survey (2004-2005):

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Long-billed Curlew Range-wide Survey (2004-2005):: BACKGROUND The Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) is a species of special concern, with both the United States and Canadian Shorebird Plans listing it as a species that is Highly Imperial throughout its range in North America (Brown et al. 2001, Morrison et al. 2001). This species is also listed in the United States as a National Bird of Conservation Concern (2002), for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Regions 1, 2, 4 and 6, and across several Bird Conservation Regions (BCR). This level of concern has arisen due to suspected population declines and distribution contractions in parts of its range, particularly in the shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie of the western Great Plains (Brown et al. 2001). Range-wide threats are thought to include habitat loss and fragmentation due to agricultural conversion (cropland and tame pasture), woody vegetation encroachment, and to a lesser extent, urban development. For details on LBCU ecology, management and conservation, refer to Dugger and Dugger (2002), and Fellows and Jones (in prep.). Concerns over the present status of Long-billed Curlew populations in both the United States and Canada, coupled with perceived limitations of the BBS to adequately monitor populations prompted the need to gather basic information on breeding population size and distribution of this species range-wide, evaluate those results, and if necessary, develop a plan to monitor those populations deemed a risk (Nations et al. 2007). In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Region 6 allocated USFWS funding and directed USGS funds to conduct a range-wide survey of Long-billed Curlews during the breeding seasons of 2004 and 2005. The USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Colorado was contracted to implement the range-wide survey. USGS later decide to restrict their survey efforts to the United States. The USFWS coordinated efforts with Canadian officials to conduct surveys independently in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in both 2004 and 2005. Analysis has been completed and reported by USGS for the U.S. dataset (Stanley and Skagen 2005) and by USFWS for both countries (Nations et al. 2007). During this rangewide survey, data was collected on the habitat at a number of the points, both with and without Long-billed Curlews present. General habitat information was collected at each survey point following each 5-min survey period (Fellows and Thomas 2003, Jones et al. 2003). Observers estimated the percent (&#8805; 25%) cover of broad habitat classification categories, by quarters (NE, NW, SE, SW) within a radius of 400-m at each transect point. Observers recorded up to four (4) primary habitat codes in each quadrant and included secondary codes where easily determined. Primary habitats were characterized based on type and structure (e.g., short grassland, cultivated crops, shrubland, forest, aquatic, etc). Secondary habitat types focused on dominant flora of each primary habitat (e.g., Artemisia shrubland, Bouteloua-Buchloe grassland, Aspen (Populus tremuloides) woodland, etc). Additional information was obtained for primary habitats, including whether it was recently grazed, burned, had active or inactive prairie-dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies, or a high degree of invasive grass species (below). The LBCU habitat data were collected at each point, not at the level of the route. There are 98 potential habitat covariates. Of these, 81 are categorical variables. Among the categorical variables, 77 are dominated by missing values; that is, more than half of all values are missing. Categorical variables typically have roughly 5-15 categories, but there are as many as 150 categories per variable. METHODS Survey design, sampling design, and implementation are described in Saunders (2001), Jones et al. (2003), Stanley and Skagen (2005), and Nations et al. (2007). General sampling design and survey methodology largely follow Saunders et al. (2001) for surveys completed in 2000 in Alberta. To summarize, the geographic breeding range of Long-billed Curlews was defined, eliminating unsuitable habitats from sampling consideration, stratified based on percent native grassland cover, then a random sampled of survey units (townships) from each stratum was selected. Within each township, a 32-km driving transects were placed on secondary and tertiary roads. Five-min counts were conducted at 0.8 km intervals along each transect (40 points/route). SURVEY AREA Most of the known breeding range of the Long-billed Curlew was the defined area for sampling. The entire known breeding range in the United States, and British Columbia was subject to sampling. Details of the sampling design can be found at In Alberta and Saskatchewan the survey area was restricted to the Grassland Natural Region, where most curlews are thought to occur (note that some curlews breed in the Parkland Natural Region, but not at high enough densities to have warranted consideration). SURVEY TIMEFRAME Curlew surveys were completed in 2004 and 2005 during the pre-incubation period, when males are most conspicuous while performing aerial display flights (Redmond et al. 1981, Jones et al. 2003), using an index to the arrival of spring (Cayan et al. 2001). In general, southern latitudes were surveyed earlier each year. Four survey periods were defined geographically (http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/birds/longbilled_curlew/curlew_040505.pdf) and surveyed during the following dates: in 2004, 21 March - 10 April, 28 March - 17 April, 11 April - 1 May, and 21 April - 15 May, respectively, and in 2005, 28 March - 20 April, 3 April - 27 April, 8 April - 3 May, and 21 April - 15 May, respectively. Surveys were adjusted to take place a week later in 2005, to avoid counting late migrants in the southern portion of the range and to increase the sampling time. LONG-BILLED CURLEW SURVEYS Within each township, a 32-km transect was placed on secondary and tertiary roads, and other rights-of-way. (See Saunders (2001) and Stanley and Skagen (2005) for criteria on route selection in selected townships.) Long-billed Curlews were counted at 0.8-km intervals along each route (i.e., 40 points/route). Surveys typically started 0.5 hr after sunrise and typically lasted 4 - 6 hr. More than one transect route was occasionally run per day; surveys were terminated 0.5 hr before sunset. All surveys were conducted by recording all curlews seen or heard within 5 min upon arrival at each transect point. Birds observed while driving between transect points were also recorded. In both the U.S. and Canadian surveys, distance category (0 - 400 m, 400 - 800 m, > 800 m from survey point) of each detected bird was obtained using either laser rangefinders or by ocular estimation. Additional information for each detected curlew included the habitat type (see General Habitat Data Collection below) at its location (within a 5-m radius), topography, behavior, age and sex (if possible), and flocking status (e.g., single, pair, flock). Detection of other important grassland bird species, as well as mammalian predators was noted (Appendix). Beginning in 2005, the percent of each 400-m radius count circle that could be observed from the survey-point center was estimated (i.e., visibility limitations due to topographical obstructions). OBJECTIVE Our goal is to procure a comprehensive analysis from the habitat dataset, examining relationships between curlew occurrence/abundance and habitat cover types. LITERATURE CITED Brown, S., C. Hickey, B. Harrington, and R. Gill (eds.). 2001. United States Shorebird Conservation Plan. Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Manomet, Massachusetts. Cayan, D.R., S. A. Kammerdiener, M. D. Dettinger, J. M. Caprio, and D. H. Peterson. 2001. Changes in the onset of spring in the western United States. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 82:399-415. Dugger, B.D. and K.M. Dugger. 2002. Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus). In Birds of North America, No. 628 (A. Poole and F.B. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Fellows, S. D. and S. Thomas. 2004. Long-billed Curlew rangewide survey protocol handbook and habitat classification system. USDOI, Fish and Wildlife Service, Administrative Report, Denver, CO. Fellows, S. D., and S. L. Jones. In Prep. Status assessment and conservation plan for the Long-billed Curlew. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication BTP-R6xxx-xxxx. Denver, Colorado. http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/birds/longbilled_curlew/LBCUSACP%20final.pdf (accessed 13 April 2007). Jones, S. L., T. R. Stanley, S. K. Skagen, and R. L. Redmond. 2003. Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) rangewide survey and monitoring guidelines. Administrative report, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, CO. < http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/birds/longbilled_curlew/>. (accessed 2 Feb 2006). Morrison, R.I.G., R. E. Gill, B.A. Harrington. S. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor, and S. M. Haig. 2001. Estimates of shorebird populations in North America. Canadian Wildlife Service. Occasional Paper No. 104. Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada Nations, C. S., L. L. McDonald, S. L. Jones and S. D. Fellows. 2007. Population estimates for Long-Billed Curlew in the United States and Canada. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado and WEST, Inc., Cheyenne, Wyoming. Unpublished report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Saunders, E. J. 2001. Population estimate and habitat associations of the Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) in Alberta. Alberta Species at Risk Report No. 25. Edmonton, AB. Stanley, T. R., and S. K. Skagen. 2005. Final report: Long-Billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) population estimate and monitoring guidelines. Unpublished report, Department of Interior, Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado.