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Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

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Dramatic Increase of Le Conte's Sparrow in Conservation Reserve Program Fields in the Northern Great Plains

Tables

Table 1. Long-term (1961-1990) average precipitation in centimeters (May of previous year to April of current year) and annual deviations from the average, 1990-1994, taken at the nearest national weather station.
County Long-term average Deviations from the long-term average
1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94
Eddy, ND 45.72 +0.58 -2.11 +3.71 -8.33 +22.81
Kidder, ND 41.10 -13.87 +6.45 +1.83 -7.67 +21.54
Hettinger, ND 41.88 -13.44 -11.68 -9.35 -16.41 +20.04
Sheridan, MT 32.39 -8.36 +1.57 +10.26 -6.38 +24.92
Fallon, MT 36.60 -14.38 -7.90 +1.60 -5.38 +16.69
Butte, SD 42.67 -1.65 -4.83 -13.31 +5.00 +14.38
McPherson, SD 40.18 -10.41 +12.57 -9.02 +18.03 +39.29
Day, SD 53.49 +3.91 +1.40 +12.12 -6.30 +30.10
Grant, MN 64.72 -3.40 +3.38 +5.61 -1.37 +0.25

 

Table 2. Number of breeding pairs and density (pairs/100 ha) of Le Conte's Sparrows observed in Conservation Reserve Program fields in the northern Great Plains, 1990-1994
County Number of breeding pairs Density
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1991-93 1994
Eddy, ND 0 1 0 0 206 0.03 21.47
Kidder, ND 0 0 0 1 26 0.03 2.74
Hettinger, ND 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sheridan, MT 0 0 8 0 52 0.30 7.76
Fallon, MT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Butte, SD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
McPherson, SD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Day, SD 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.23
Grant, MN 0 0 0 2 4 0.09 0.76