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Grassland Bird Use of Conservation Reserve Program Fields in the Great Plains

Tables

Table 1.  Average density of breeding birds (indicated breeding pairs per 100 ha) in Conservation Reserve Program fields, in nine northern Great Plains counties, 1990-91 average (Johnson and Schwartz 1993a).
Species Great Plains Roughlands Missouri Coteau Drift Prairie Black
Prairie
Fallon
MT		 Butte
SD		 Hettinger
ND		 Sheridan
MT		 Kidder
ND		 McPherson
SD		 Eddy
ND		 Day
SD		 Grant
MN
Lark bunting 22 34 53 56 10 19 0 0 0
Grasshopper sparrow 12 10 27 23 18 38 34 18 9
Red-winged blackbird 1 2 22 4 25 26 19 33 19
Western meadowlark 13 13 9 7 7 8 6 3 1
Horned lark 10 20 7 15 3 5 2 1 0
Savannah sparrow 0 0 9 5 6 3 8 14 12
Brown-headed cowbird 2 1 8 12 5 8 6 5 1
Clay-colored sparrow 0 0 1 6 2 2 12 12 7
Bobolink 0 0 5 2 2 2 6 10 16
Common yellowthroat 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 13 14
Sedge wren 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 17
Chestnut-collared longspur 0 1 3 10 2 4 0 0 0
Dickcissel 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 11 4
Baird's sparrow 1 1 0 9 1 1 1 1 0
 
Table 2.  Average density (pairs per 100 ha) of most common breeding birds in 30 CRP fields in western Minnesota (Hanowski 1995).
Species Average density
Bobolink 50
Red-winged blackbird 49
Clay-colored sparrow 38
Savannah sparrow 35
Sedge wren 26
American goldfinch 17
Brewer's blackbird 17
Common yellowthroat 16
Common grackle 13
Tree swallow 11
Brown-headed cowbird 10
Grasshopper sparrow 10
Vesper sparrow 9
Song sparrow 8
Western meadowlark 7
Mourning dove 6
 
Table 3.  Average density (individuals per 100 ha) of most common breeding birds in 10 CRP fields in south-eastern Nebraska (Delisle and Savidge 1997).
Species Average density
Dickcissel 167
Grasshopper sparrow 52
Brown-headed cowbird 28
Red-winged blackbird 26
Common yellowthroat 14
Sedge wren 14
Bobolink 13
Northern bobwhite 8
Mourning dove 8
Meadowlark 8
Ring-necked pheasant 6
 
Table 4.  Average density (birds per 100 point counts) of most common breeding birds in 46 CRP fields in North Dakota (Horn 2000).
Species Average density
Brown-headed cowbird 102
Clay-colored sparrow 91
Sedge wren 78
Le Conte's sparrow 67
Savannah sparrow 59
Common Yellowthroat 57
Bobolink 57
Red-winged blackbird 52
American goldfinch 17
Song sparrow 11
Grasshopper sparrow 5
Western meadowlark 5
 
Table 5.  Projected change in breeding population in North Dakota due to termination of Conservation Reserve Program (Johnson and Igl 1995); all counts are in 1,000s.
Species Population in Change Statewide
population		 Percent
change
CRP Crop
Lark bunting
 211 21 -190 1,113 -17
Grasshopper sparrow
 206 12 -193 945 -20
Red-winged blackbird
 187 18 -170 1,421 -12
Savannah sparrow
 94 10 -84 445 -19
Western meadowlark
 80 16 -64 1,260 -5
Brown-headed cowbird
 74 33 -41 1,380 -3
Bobolink
 73 31 -42 388 -11
Clay-colored sparrow
 54 0 -54 593 -9
Common yellowthroat
 27 0 -27 286 -9
Horned lark
 20 316 296 3,042 10
Sedge wren
 16 0 -16 61 -26
Baird's sparrow
 10 2 -8 225 -4
Dickcissel
 10 1 -9 52 -17
Ring-necked pheasant
 8 1 -8 84 -9
Sharp-tailed grouse
 7 1 -6 88 -7
 
Table 6.1. Average density (pairs per 100 ha) of breeding birds in CRP fields in northern Great Plains: species that increased in number (Johnson, Igl, and Schwartz 1997).
Species 1990-91 1995-96
Savannah sparrow 6 20
Clay-colored sparrow 5 12
Bobolink 5 9
Common yellowthroat 4 6
Sedge wren 3 11
Le Conte's sparrow 0 16
 
 
Table 6.2.  Average density (pairs per 100 ha) of breeding birds in CRP fields in northern Great Plains: species that declined in number (Johnson, Igl, and Schwartz 1997).
Species 1990-91 1995-96
Lark bunting 21 4
Red-winged blackbird 16 11
Horned lark 7 1
Chestnut-collared longspur 2 0
Eastern kingbird 2 1
Dickcissel 2  
 

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