Mountain Birdwatch Phase 2: Monitoring high-elevation birds in

the Atlantic Northern Forest

Julie Hart & Dan Lambert

Sugarloaf Mountain, NH

NH-ME BBS routes

Why high-elevation birds?

Bicknell’s Thrush

•  Endemic •  Habitat specialist •  Restricted range •  Small population •  Uncertain status •  Conservation priority

= Vulnerable

Past Limitations •  Count protocols vary •  Limited statistical inference •  Detectability issues •  Occupancy estimates •  Unable to estimate population size,

assess limiting factors, or adequately model metapopulations

•  Grumpy editors

Mountain Birdwatch II •  VISION: Create a unified program

that spans the entire breeding range of Bicknell’s Thrush

•  Organizations involved: – Vermont Center for Ecostudies – Bird Studies Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service – White Mountain National Forest

Addressing the Challenge

•  2006 – NECBM Mountain Bird Group •  2007 – International Bicknell’s Thrush

Conservation Group •  2008 – Develop protocol and SOPs •  2009 – Begin regional coordination •  2010 – Export model to Newfoundland

and Appalachian Mountain BCR

www.bicknellsthrush.org

Project Goals

1.  Measure changes in distribution and abundance with an emphasis on SGCN.

2.  Investigate the relationship between breeding ground population status of BITH and winter habitat availability.

3.  Produce tools and data to guide stewardship and conservation.

Project Goals (cont.)

•  Estimate BITH population size •  Investigate the influence of:

– Habitat – Climate – Red squirrel / cone mast dynamics – Hg exposure – Calcium availability – Forestry practices

Spatially Balanced Sampling •  GRTS Survey Design

–  BITH habitat model –  Trails and roads

•  Cost Surface Layer –  Effort as distance nearest road

•  Flexible –  add new sites over time –  intensify sampling within pre-defined strata

Spatially Balanced Sampling •  GRTS Survey Design

–  BITH habitat model –  Trails and roads

•  Cost Surface Layer –  Effort as distance nearest road

•  Flexible –  add new sites over time –  intensify sampling within pre-defined strata

Optimal Point Count Method

•  Trained volunteers and technicians survey once a year during 3-week window in June

•  Surveys begin 30 min before sunrise •  Target 10 focal species plus Red

Squirrel

Target Species SPECIES RATIONALE YBFL NF indicator species BCCH Niche overlap with BOCH BOCH NF indicator species WIWR Abundant, easy to identify BITH Top conservation priority, specialist SWTH Niche overlap with BITH HETH Niche overlap with SWTH BLPW NF indicator species WTSP Abundant, easy to identify, BBS decline FOSP Priority for Canada RESQ Main predator of BITH nests & chicks

5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Two Pilot Protocols

Time of detection in 1-min intervals for BITH

simultaneous with

Repeated simple counts for all focal species

Repeated p/a for all focal species

OR

5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes

Pilot Results •  519 points surveyed

–  437 using simple counts –  82 using presence/absence –  144 BITH in first 10 minutes

•  Volunteer feedback –  20 min long time –  Hard to estimate distance by sound –  Most would continue with MBW

•  Team of statisticians running variance estimates using occupancy, time-of-detection, n-mixture models, and distance estimation

Data management •  Georeferenced database •  Standardized fields aligned to AKN •  AKN archive •  Opportunity to analyze and

visualize using AKN applications •  Metadata documented through

BMDE

Tools for Conservation

•  Public access to data and visualizations via AKN

Tools for Conservation

Tools for Conservation

•  Public access to data and visualizations via AKN

•  Wind farm siting assessment

• Of highest wind potential areas, only 5.4% is in BITH habitat

• Of all potential BITH habitat, 84% falls within the highest wind potential category

VT Wind Resource Map from NREL 2007

Wind Farm Siting

Tools for Conservation

•  Public access to data and visualizations via AKN

•  Wind farm siting assessment •  Range-wide analysis of preferred

habitat characteristics

Climate and Habitat Covariates •  Elevation •  Slope •  Aspect •  Topographical index •  Surficial geology •  Latitude/longitude •  Mean daily temperature •  Mean night-time

temperature •  Mean precipitation

•  Canopy/subcanopy characteristics

•  Stem density •  Basal area by class •  Foliar calcium •  Mercury exposure •  Cone mast •  Red Squirrel

abundance •  Wind power potential •  Patch size •  Patch composition •  Isolation

Tools for Conservation

•  Public access to data and visualizations via AKN

•  Wind farm siting assessment •  Range-wide analysis of preferred

habitat characteristics

•  Assess habitat restoration in Hispaniola

Winter Habitat Restoration •  Restore historical broadleaf forest in

the Dominican Republic •  Improve enforcement of protected

areas •  Correlate the extent of forest in

Hispaniola with abundance of Bicknell’s Thrush on breeding range

Winter Habitat Restoration

Population  Size:  Our  Vision20

08

2012

2016

2020

2024

2028

2032

2036

2040

2044

2048

2052

2056

2060

Meeting Citizen Science Challenges

•  Generate matching funds

•  Balance quantity with quality of info •  Observer effects •  Large geographic

scope •  Sustaining interest

•  Recruiting and training

Next Steps

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Mountain Birdwatch volunteers