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Henslow's Sparrow Project Summary



Carolinabirders,

Our main field work on Henslow's Sparrows for the year 2000 breeding season
is now completed at Voice of America sites A and B in Pitt/Beaufort
counties, NC.  Following is a summary of our efforts.

The singing-male surveys (about 4-5 hours at each site) on June 3rd and 4th
yielded 83 Henslow's at Site A and 57 Henslow's at Site B.  These numbers
are about average for these sites.  They are not a census, but rather a
large sample of the singing males heard from road networks within the sites.
Paula and I started the singing-male surveys in 1994 and have continued them
each year.   They are a crude index of population size and distribution on
the sites year to year.

Banding operations, in their second year, yielded 30 captures over a period
of 5 days (June 13 -17).  Of these, 20 Henslow's were captured at Site A and
10 Henslow's were captured at Site B.  Each bird was banded, and a very
small blood and feather sample was obtained from each bird for later
isotopic and genetic analysis.  During our initial work in June of 1999 we
captured 25 Henslow's from the two sites. All captures that year were adult
(after-hatching-year) males.  The June 2000 captures consisted of  23 adult
males, 4 adult females, and 3 juveniles (hatching-year, sex unknown).  Since
we have yet to find a Henslow's nest at either of these sites, the 3
juveniles represent our first conclusive evidence of breeding at these
sites.  Dr. Mark Woodrey, avian ecologist and curator of birds at the
Mississippi State Museum of Natural Sciences, has headed the banding program
at these sites.  He also heads a project involving the banding of Henslow's
Sparrows on the wintering grounds in coastal savannahs of Mississippi.  Dr.
Woodrey's work here is part of an ongoing effort to establish the
relationship (if any) between known breeding sites and known wintering sites
for the species.

On June 18th and 19th Dr. Woodrey and I recorded Henslow Sparrow songs at
the two sites.  Using a professional quality recorder and directional
microphone, we obtained song samples from 23 different individual males.
These recordings will be used in a study of song variation within and
between breeding populations of this species.  The recordings will become
part of the collection at the Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics at Ohio
State University.

Other than the Henslow's Sparrows, other interesting sightings included a
female Northern Harrier at Site A on June 18, a male Dickcissel at Site B on
June 14, and a very large Black Bear at Site B on June 14.  We did not
quarrel with the bear about the ownership of a patch of ripening
blackberries.

Thanks are extended to the several volunteers who helped us with the work
this year.  Helping with the banding were Brad Carlson and Howard Vainwright
of Greenville, biologists David Allen and Joe Folta from the NC Wildlife
Resources Commission, biologist Wendy Stanton from the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, and Wendy's interns Curtis, Martin, Mollie and Sarah.  Wendy,
Mollie and Sarah also helped Paula and me with the singing-male survey.
Brad Carlson also took numerous photographs of the sparrows, including
several bird-in-the-hand views.  I am excited to see these when the slides
return.

John
--
John and Paula Wright     h 252-756-5139

jwright@skantech.net      Greenville, North Carolina