Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States
Birds can cause extensive crop damage in the United States. In some regions, depredating species comprise a substantial portion of the total avian population, emphasizing their importance both economically and ecologically. We used the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count data from the sout...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utah State University
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Human-Wildlife Interactions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol9/iss2/6 |
| _version_ | 1818111550263656448 |
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| author | Matthew Strassburg Shawn M. Crimmins Patrick C. McKann Wayne E. Thogmartin |
| author_facet | Matthew Strassburg Shawn M. Crimmins Patrick C. McKann Wayne E. Thogmartin |
| author_sort | Matthew Strassburg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Birds can cause extensive crop damage in the United States. In some regions, depredating species comprise a substantial portion of the total avian population, emphasizing their importance both economically and ecologically. We used the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count data from the south-central United States and mixed-effects models to identify habitat factors associated with population trend and abundance for 5 species: red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer’s blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), and European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Overall, we found positive associations between bird abundance and agricultural land-cover for all species. Relationships between abundance and other land-cover types were species-specific, often with contrasting relationships among species. Likewise, we found no consistent patterns among abundance and climate. Of the 5 species, only red-winged blackbirds had a significant population trend in our study area, increasing annually by 2.4%. There was marginal evidence to suggest population increases for rusty blackbirds, whereas all other species showed no trend in population size within our study area. Our study provides managers who are interested in limiting crop damage in the south-central United States with novel information on habitat associations in the region that could be used to improve management and control actions |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:04:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-491206505432488f857ecc6f8f1c3978 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2155-3874 2155-3874 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:04:49Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | Utah State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human-Wildlife Interactions |
| spelling | doaj.art-491206505432488f857ecc6f8f1c39782022-12-22T01:22:59ZengUtah State UniversityHuman-Wildlife Interactions2155-38742155-38742017-02-019210.26077/mej7-v607Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United StatesMatthew Strassburg0Shawn M. Crimmins1Patrick C. McKann2Wayne E. Thogmartin3North Dakota State UniversityU.S. Geological SurveyU.S. Geological SurveyU.S. Geological SurveyBirds can cause extensive crop damage in the United States. In some regions, depredating species comprise a substantial portion of the total avian population, emphasizing their importance both economically and ecologically. We used the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count data from the south-central United States and mixed-effects models to identify habitat factors associated with population trend and abundance for 5 species: red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer’s blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), and European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Overall, we found positive associations between bird abundance and agricultural land-cover for all species. Relationships between abundance and other land-cover types were species-specific, often with contrasting relationships among species. Likewise, we found no consistent patterns among abundance and climate. Of the 5 species, only red-winged blackbirds had a significant population trend in our study area, increasing annually by 2.4%. There was marginal evidence to suggest population increases for rusty blackbirds, whereas all other species showed no trend in population size within our study area. Our study provides managers who are interested in limiting crop damage in the south-central United States with novel information on habitat associations in the region that could be used to improve management and control actionshttps://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol9/iss2/6blackbirdclimatehabitathuman–wildlife conflictmixed-effectspopulation trendstarling |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Strassburg Shawn M. Crimmins Patrick C. McKann Wayne E. Thogmartin Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States Human-Wildlife Interactions blackbird climate habitat human–wildlife conflict mixed-effects population trend starling |
| title | Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States |
| title_full | Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States |
| title_fullStr | Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States |
| title_short | Winter Habitat Associations of Blackbirds and Starlings Wintering in the South-Central United States |
| title_sort | winter habitat associations of blackbirds and starlings wintering in the south central united states |
| topic | blackbird climate habitat human–wildlife conflict mixed-effects population trend starling |
| url | https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol9/iss2/6 |
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