What is characteristic of most Buff-breasted Sandpiper reports is that they are
very patchy. Birds reported in a few discrete sites but typically they are not
reported widespread across the landscape.
There are biases in all forms of surveys. We need to recognize this and use
the data with that knowledge. EBIRD reports typically are where people have
access and where birds have been reported to be found. They are definitely not
random.
Marc Ealy and I conducted surveys for Buff-breasted on the Central Coast during
spring 2005. We sampled for 4 weeks 9 different habitats which included 5542
acres of plowed ag, 2116 acres of short ag crops, 1402 acres of short
grasslands, 226 acres of bare and dry rice fields, 220 acres of bare and wet
rice fields, 1230 acres of short rice, 164 acres of turf, and 48 acres of
waterfowl impoundments. We only found Buff-breasted on 3 of the habitats
during 9 survey trips. Short rice fields had 4 BBSA per 100 acres, waterfowl
impoundments 3 per 100 acres and turf 8 per 100 acres.
I have found BBSA using the other habitats in this study at different times and
seasons. But during this study, this was where they were.
Use of each habitat is likely dependent on conditions of the sites at the time
of migration and this can change daily. This makes it very challenging trying
to figure out population size of any species which could be occupying many
millions of acres on any given day.
Researchers will be placing various forms of hardware (geolocators and
satellite transmitters) on BBSA to determine migration routes and timing to
help develop a sampling frame to produce population estimates from field
surveys in spring and fall.
I will keep you updated as this research progresses.
Brent OrtegoTexas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentVictoria, TX
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2015 09:58:21 -0500
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Buff-breasted Sandpiper
From: jim.sinclair@xxxxxxxxx
To: rgibbo3@xxxxxxxxx
CC: brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx; texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; podoces@xxxxxxxxx
I agree with Richard's view. Several years ago Tom Langschied and I had a
single flock of several hundred at the edge of a flooded field on the
Laureles division of the King Ranch.
On Fri, Jul 24, 2015 at 9:47 AM, Richard Gibbons <rgibbo3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks Brent. I wonder how much of this is sampling bias. Short grass
habitat is in short supply and they definitely are fond of turf farms, but
I've seen equally impressive numbers in wetland areas and plowed fields
along the Gulf coast. Turf farms are disproportionately sampled for
"grasspipers" and understandably so given the ease with which difficult to
find species are encountered at these locations. It would be interesting to
have a directed shorebird migration survey wherein observers sampled
working wetlands, ag lands, and natural habitats. Is that what is planned
for Buff-breasted Sandpipers?
Richard Gibbons
Houston, Texas
On Jul 24, 2015, at 8:53 AM, Brent Ortego <brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
America, U.S. and Canada will be conducting research on this species in the
Saw my first Buff-breasted of the season on turf at Dacosta this morning.
This is a species that much is not known. Researchers from South
next couple of years to determine a population estimate.
I summarized Buff-breasted Sandpiper EBIRD data for Texas recently aspart of this work. 25% of the reports for this species are on turf and
they support 76% of the birds. EBIRD sites with highest numbers have been
in the Dallas area, and many places from College Station to the Coast. Most
will migrate through in August and September.
Brent OrtegoTexas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentVictoria, TXpermission
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