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Allison K. Pierce�PhD Candidate | University of Colorado Denver�Candidata a doctora | Universidad de Colorado Denver

allison.pierce@ucdenver.edu

@allikpierce

Beyond the breeding grounds

Más allá de las zonas de reproducción

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GREAT COLLEAGUES , COLLABORATORS, & FRIENDS

GRANDES COLEGAS , COLABORADORES Y AMIGOS

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MOUNTAIN PLOVER�CHORLO LLANERO

The ”Prairie Ghost”

El "Fantasma de la pradera"

Dirt Birds

Pájaros de la tierra

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migration

migración

¿Dónde centrar los esfuerzos de conservación?

Where to focus conservation efforts?

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Tracking migration

Rastrear la migración

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OK

FALL�OTOÑO

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TX

CA

WINTER�INVIERNO

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Landcover�Cubierta de tierra

Grassland breeding plovers spend most of the year on privately managed croplands�Los chorlitos de los pastizales pasan la mayor parte del año en tierras de cultivo gestionadas de forma privada

Breeding

Non-breeding

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

>90% Grasslands�Pastizales

>75%

Croplands�Tierras de cultivo

Landcover Type

Barren Land

Cultivated Crops

Developed, Open Space

Emergent Herbaceuous Wetlands

Evergreen Forest

Hay/Pasture

Grassland/Herbaceuous

Open Water

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Counties/Condados�Baca, CO

Cimarron, OK

Stanton, KS

Morton, KS

Fall surveys�Encuestas de otoño

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Flocks / Rebaños

2019: 47
2018: 37

�

Individuals

2019: 598
2018: 1445

Migrants and summer residents

Migrantes y residentes de verano

Fall surveys - preliminary summary�Encuestas de otoño - resumen preliminar

Recently tilled/planted fields

Campos recién labrados/plantados

Grazing + Prairie Dogs

Pastoreo + perros de la pradera

We conducted these pilot surveys over two years. Over the course of about a month we detected over 30 flocks each year with over 1400 individuals seen in 2018. We also re-sighted some birds that I banded in South Park as well as one I banded on Comanche National Grassland earlier that year in May. This suggests that birds that breed in this area during the summer also spend their fall there. Overall, most of the birds we saw were using freshly tilled or planted winter wheat fields with very little residual dead vegetation. Although we also surveyed pastures from Comanche National Grasslands in our study area, we did not detect nearly as many flocks is the grassland habitats. When we did, these pastures were generally in heavily disturbed pastures with active cattle grazing on prairie dog colonies. I plan to combine what we have learned from these surveys with our tracking data to better understand the importance of this region and impacts of agricultural activities on migration.

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& mortality�y la mortalidad

Tracking migration�Rastrear la migración

�STAY TUNED!�¡MANTÉNGASE EN SINTONÍA!

More recently technology has continued to advance, and we have been lucky enough to deploy ICARUS tags on plovers breeding in South Park. These tags run on solar power and remotely relay GPS locations via the ISS! This eliminates the extensive manpower needed to recover archival tags and will allow us to deploy tags on birds breeding in other sites. So far, the tags we deployed last year are transmitting and we are seeing a diversity of migration strategies from a single breeding population, including birds wintering in MX. Previously only one bird banded in the US has been seen in MX during the winter (a bird I banded in South Park with colored leg bands matching the Mexican Flag!). Even more exciting, because these remotely transmit we will not only get tracks from birds that survived and returned but also those that don’t make it back. This will help us start to quantify seasonal adult mortality over the entire annual cycle. Will the remaining plovers make it back to South Park? Will they all come back to the study site? Stay tuned and we will all find out soon, together!

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THANK YOU!�¡GRACIAS!