Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Upland Sandpiper’

2023 JB McGuire Grassland Bird Survey

Friday, October 13th, 2023

by Meaghan Lyon, Wildlife Biologist

Each year since 2017, CWF has been teaming up with partners from the USFWS New Jersey Field Office to survey the JB McGuire Airfield for grassland birds during the breeding season.  Part of a long-term monitoring project, the airfield has been undergoing habitat restoration to maintain native warm season grassland habitat. The habitat restoration efforts are nearly 70% complete with roughly 700 acres seeded since 2017 and another 100 acres to be completed the following year.

Six of the ground-nesting bird species documented at the airfield are State-listed as either endangered, threatened, or of special concern.  The eastern meadowlark (Sternella magna), a member of the blackbird family, is a State Species of Concern.  It prefers a minimum of ten to twenty acres of unfragmented dense grasses of medium height for nesting.  The State-threatened grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) favors patches over 100 acres containing short- to medium-height bunch grasses interspersed with patches of bare ground, a shallow litter layer and scattered forbs. The savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), also State-threatened, requires a mix of short and tall grasses, a thick litter layer, dense ground vegetation, and scattered forbs.  Another member of the blackbird family is the State-threatened bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).  Bobolinks prefer to place their nests in areas of greatest vegetative height and density and could potentially nest in patches as small as five to ten acres.  The State-threatened horned lark (Erimophila alpestrias) nests in areas of barren ground with short and sparse cover and are quick to abandon sites as vegetation grows thicker. 

Grasshopper sparrow nest located at McGuire Airfield, May 2023. The well-camouflaged nest was discovered after the adult bird flushed from the grass. The eggs were as tiny as a thumbnail.
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2022 Upland Sandpiper Survey Results

Tuesday, January 17th, 2023

by Meaghan Lyon, Wildlife Biologist

The results are in! It wasn’t a great year for upland sandpipers at the McGuire Airfield. Numbers of breeding pairs at this location have decreased to an estimated two pairs. Numbers can be variable from year to year so there is still hope for better news in 2023.

Upland sandpipers typically require a minimum of 100 acres for breeding habitat and so large expanses of open, grassy land is a high priority. Over the past five years, long term efforts have been ongoing to complete a large-scale grassland restoration at the McGuire Airfield. So far, roughly 500 acres have been converted to native warm season grasses with another 100 acres to be completed by next spring. Our goal is to help create and maintain grassland bird nesting habitat for Upland sandpipers and other species.

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