FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Grassland Sparrow Research

["Brian Davidson" <jonatthebar@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Birders!
     My name is Brian Davidson.  I am a graduate student of Dr. Gary 
Ritchison at Eastern Kentucky University.  I am about to start my second 
summer of KDFWR-funded research on the ecology of  Henslow's and Grasshopper 
Sparrows.  As most of you know, these birds are rare, hard to find, and 
declining in number to boot.  My team is trying to determine if habitat area 
and certain vegetation characteristics can help explain the distribution and 
abundance of these birds in Kentucky.  Also, we are attempting to find out 
if these habitat variables influence the birds' reproductive success.
     Last year we were lucky enough to find several breeding populations of 
these birds in the central and eastern parts of the state.  Three of our 
most important sites were found by regular contributors to birdky- Sonora 
(Brainard Palmer-Ball), Lawrenceburg (Celia Lawrence), and the Ano strip 
mine (Roseanna Denton).  The sparrows will be returning to Kentucky within 
the next month.  Since many eyes (and ears!) are better than a few, I would 
like to ask your assistance in finding them.
     These two species are usually found in fairly large (>25 acre) tracts 
of grassland.  Henslow's prefer denser vegetation (especially litter) while 
Grasshoppers like to have some area consisting of bare ground.  If you know 
any areas that fit these criteria, or if you see the birds, please email me 
at jonatthebar@xxxxxxxxxxx or give me a call at (859) 893-3926.
     I would like to thank the above-mentioned people for their help last 
year (and apologize if I misspelled any names).  I will appreciate any tips 
or advice from any of you.

Happy birding!
Brian Davidson

to view more information about these species, visit
http://birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Henslows_Sparrow_dtl.html
for Henslow's Sparrow
or,
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Grasshopper_Sparrow.html
for Grasshopper Sparrow.


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