Download 2016 New Jersey Black Rail Survey

2016 New Jersey Black Rail Survey
Michael Allen and Don Freiday
NJ Audubon Citizen Science Workshop April 9, 2016
2016 New Jersey Black Rail Survey
 Background Information
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
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Citizen Science overview
Black Rail: A regional perspective
Black Rail in NJ – including 2015 results!
 Species Identification
 Survey protocol and requirements
 Survey sites
Michael Allen and Don Freiday
NJ Audubon Citizen Science Workshop April 9, 2016
2016 New Jersey Black Rail Survey
 Background Information



Citizen Science overview
Black Rail: A regional perspective
Black Rail in NJ – including 2015 results!
 Species Identification
 Survey protocol and requirements
 Survey sites
Michael Allen and Don Freiday
NJ Audubon Citizen Science Workshop April 9, 2016
Citizen Science at NJ Audubon
Promotes habitat preservation by improving our knowledge of
the ecology of New Jersey through the contributions of Citizen
Scientists
Involving the public (Citizen Scientists) in the process of collecting
ecological data makes them active participants in conservation
Citizen Science as Informal Science Education
Purpose: To increase awareness, knowledge
and skills and to engage the public
Connecting people with Nature
Citizen Science as a Way to Collect Data
Purpose: to collect broad scale data across many sites
that can be used to answer scientific questions and
to inform management and policy decisions
Not a new concept. Citizen science type programs, such as the
Christmas Bird Count (National Audubon) and the Breeding Bird
Survey (USGS), have existed for decades
Citizen Science Projects
Joint projects between New Jersey Audubon Society and
collaborating organizations
Citizen Science: Shorebird Survey
Initiated: 2004 (ongoing)
Kristin Mylecraine
Citizen Science: Harbor Herons
Initiated -2008
Kristin Mylecraine
Citizen Science: Grassland Bird Survey
Initiated: 2005
Citizen Science: Piedmont Survey
2007-2008
Kristin Mylecraine
Citizen Science: Lower Raritan Survey
2012-2013
Collaboration with RVCC
Kristin Mylecraine
Raritan/Piedmont Forest Health Survey
This project is a collaborative effort of
New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS), and
Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC),
funded through NSF’s SENCER program
Purpose:
•
Involve Community College students in
conservation issues of civic importance
•
Document the abundance and distribution
of breeding birds in forest environments
•
Make recommendations for improving
forest health
Background: Eastern Black Rail
A Regional Perspective
Slides adapted from Center for Conservation Biology &
Black Rail Working Group
Black Rail is the most imperiled bird of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
• Retraction of breeding range
• Loss of breeding sites
• Reduction of individuals at historical strongholds
• Rapid loss over the past 15 years
• Populations have reached dangerously low levels
• May be extirpated in several regions in our lifetime
David Allen Sibley
Laterallus jamaicensis
Five Subspecies
L. j. jamaicensis
L. j. coturniculus (California)
L. j. tuerosi (Peru – Lake Junin)
L. j. murivagans (coastal Peru)
L. j. salinasi (Chile)
~L.j. stoddardi (inland U.S.)
Eastern Black Rail Range
Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis)
) California Black Rail (L. j. coturniculus)
Workshop Population Estimate
Atlantic and Gulf Coast
Northeast 270-400 pairs
Southeast 675-1970
Atlantic/Gulf 945-2,370 (3,620)
0-10 for most midwest states
AL 0-10
MS 0-10
LA 0-100
NJ 25-50
DE 25-50
MD 200-250
VA 20-50
NC 50-100 (500)
SC 100-200 (400)
GA 25-50 (100)
TX 300-1000
FL 200-500 (1,500)
Incompatible
Management
Nest
Predators
Sea Level Rise
Modified from Tiner 1984
Critical Monitoring Needs
Coast-wide Inventory
Status, Distribution, Population Numbers
Reproductive Success
Influence of Nest Predation / Innundation
Survival (Return Rates)
Response to Mosquito Control
OMWM
Adulticides and Larvalcides
Response to Prescribed Fire
Habitat and Survivorship
Logistical Obstacles for Survey
Remote Locations
often accessible only by boat
Low Detection Rates
Most Reliably Detected at Night
Cameron McIntyre
Chesapeake Bay & Region
Black Rail Survey
2007 & 2008
DE
Maryland Detections
12 / 101 pts (12 %)
Virginia Detections
12 / 328 pts (4 %)
F = (1-p)N
additional 5- pts could be occupied
Occupied Point
Empty Point
Maryland
2007
1992: 75/218pts
140 individual birds
2007: 12/101pts
2014: 7/141pts
7 individual birds
2014
2014 Virginia Survey
• Only 1 of 12 locations occupied from 2007 still occupied
• No detections at 123 other locations
North Carolina
2014-15
15 of 153 pts (9.8%) occupied
-estimated 22 birds
~170pts for 2015
Background: Eastern Black Rail
The New Jersey Perspective
NJ Audubon Citizen Science Workshop April 9, 2016
Historical Records of Black Rails in NJ
(references in Kerlinger and Sutton 1989 and Walsh et al. 1999)
• First NJ records are dated 1844 and 1845 from Cape May County,
near the Great Egg Harbor River
• Southern NJ: Black Rails were widespread, including Atlantic
marshes; inland edges of barrier islands, and the Delaware
Bayshore
• Stone (1937) reported one observer found 24 BLRA nests in
coastal NJ in the 1900s
• Fables (1955) reported one observer found 80 nests in NJ
• In May 1975, about 50 individuals were heard in the area of
Manahawkin (RNJB). Three were observed in 1974 and 1976;
two in 1972; and individuals were still present in 1986.
• Reported at Turkey Point (Delaware Bayshore) since the 1930s
Historical Records of Black Rails in NJ
(references in Kerlinger and Sutton 1989 and Walsh et al. 1999)
• Northern NJ: Black Rail records are scarce. Kerlinger and Sutton
(1989) could locate only 2 breeding season records north of the
Raritan River
• In 1984, a single bird was present at the Allendale Celery Farm
in Bergen County
• May have nested in the Troy Meadows in 1927, but the record
is questionable (Kerlinger and Sutton 1989).
Kerlinger and Sutton (1988)
Playback surveys in Southern NJ
• Detected BLRA at a maximum of
15 sites out of 59 surveyed.
• Greatest number detected in
Cumberland County, followed by
Cape May County
• Most BLRA locations had patches
of Spartina patens (high marsh),
and were near the upland edge
of the marsh.
• Noted an absence or near
absence of BLRA at some
historical sites.
NJ Breeding Bird Atlas (1993-1997)
Wallkill NWR (Sussex County)
• Confirmed inland breeding in
one atlas block - chicks observed
in 1993
• First confirmed inland breeding!
Southern NJ
• Probable breeding in 8 blocks
• Possible breeding in 4 blocks
2015-2016 NJ Black Rail Survey
• Collaborative project between NJ
Audubon Citizen Science
Program, Cape May Bird
Observatory, and NJ Endangered
and Nongame Species Program
Objectives:
• Document the current range of Black Rail in New Jersey
• Assess population changes since the last survey was conducted
(Kerlinger and Sutton 1988)
• Contribute to the development of a range-wide Black Rail status
assessment and management plan
2015 Preliminary Results
NJ Audubon - “North”
Assigned
Data
Volunteers
22
18
“Sites”
26
Points
116
NJ Audubon - “South”
Assigned
Data
Volunteers
28
25
22
“Routes”
19
16
80
Points
154
129
NJ - ENSP
 Surveyed 49 points (9 only surveyed once)
Total: Data returned for 258 points
2015 Preliminary Results
Statewide
 12 Detections
 10 Survey Points
 7 “Sites”
2015 Preliminary Results
“North”
 1 Detection
 1 “Site” (1 Point)
 Surveyed 80 points
@ 22 “Sites”
2015 Preliminary Results
 NJ Audubon – 7 detections @ 6 points (4 “routes”)
 ENSP – 4 detections @ 3 points (2 “routes”)
2015 Preliminary Results
2015
1988
2015 Preliminary Results
Some notes on detecting Black Rails
 Seasonal variation: 11 out of 12 individual BLRA detections
were recorded during the first survey period (late May to early
June)
 Repeat surveys: BLRA was
recorded on multiple visits at 1
point. At the remaining 9 out of
10 points, BLRAs were not
recorded on subsequent visits