Grasslands have seen the largest decline in bird populations of any terrestrial biome in the last 50 years. The drivers of these declines are varied, ranging from habitat loss, unsustainable grazing, climate change, development, and changes to natural wildfire regimes. Predictably, this degradation and loss of grassland has brought with it a decline in the grassland obligate birds, including Cassin’s Sparrow, Botteri’s Sparrow, and Grasshopper Sparrow. The cryptic nature of these species has made it difficult to fully elucidate seasonal movements (or the lack thereof), clearly delineate breeding ranges, or define the arrival and departure times into particular habitats. This data deficiency aligns with what has been dubbed the “movement shortfall”, which not only hinders our ability to understand patterns in biodiversity but can also hamper our ability to plan effective conservation strategies. We capitalized on the Motus station at the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch by affixing transmitters on individuals of Cassin’s, Botteri’s, and Grasshopper sparrows to improve our understanding of the seasonal movements that these sparrows may undertake.

About the speaker:

Adam C. Stein, PhD is an Arizona native, who left the state and spent his early career researching and conserving bird life in various countries before returning home 7 years ago to become a faculty member in the Applied Biological Department at Arizona State University. He is currently involved in monitoring projects that aim to direct conservation initiatives within the state.