McCown's Longspur
Common
Name: McCown's Longspur (MCLO)
Scientific
Name:
Calcarius
mccownii
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not on IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
U.S.
– Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 96 (With 1994); NPWRC Doc (Dechant at al. 2003)
Distribution:
Breeds from se Alberta, s Saskatchewan, sw North Dakota (formerly
much of North Dakota), and sw Minnesota (formerly) south through c Montana
to se Wyoming, ne Colorado, nd nw Nebraska.
Winters from se California (rarely), c Arizona, c New Mexico, w-c
Kansas, and c Oklahoma (casually north to sw Oregon and se Colorado) south
to ne Sonora, Chihuahua, n Durango, Zacatecas, and w and s-c Texas (rare
in recent years in eastern portions of range) (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Sparse short-grass plains, plowed and stubble fields, and bare or
nearly bare ground (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs (Number in ( ) is Physiographic Area number):
Montana Bird Conservation Plan; Osage Plains Bird Conservation Plan
(33); Canadian Action Plans (Dunn 2002); PIF Monitoring Needs document
(Partners in Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: ** (Long-term population
trend monitoring considered adequate, but some issues (e.g., bias) may not
be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) provides
acceptable data at the continental level (PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- Second
priority action – Improve the BBS (PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- Third
priority action – Conduct new winter surveys (PIF Monitoring Needs
doc)
- Supplemental
MCLO Surveys
- Evaluate use of Grassland Bird Monitoring to improve monitoring of
MCLO; update CBC results and evaluate quality of data (Canadian Action
Plan); Conduct count-based surveys of all bird species in short grass
habitats including MCLO (
Montana
)
- Assess
amount, block size and trend for key MCLO habitat (Canadian Action
Plan)
- see
needs under "Wintering"
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Identify
key habitats of MCLO (Canadian Action Plan)
- see
needs under "Wintering"
Effects
of Management Practices
- Identify
best management practices for MCLO (Canadian Action Plan)
- Assess
the use of fire as a tool for shortgrass habitat management for
priority species including MCLO (
Montana
)
- Determine
the relationship of MCLO density and demography to grazing regimes and
different forms of grassland and crop management (Canadian Action
Plan)
Species
Interactions
- Investigate
control of prairie dog diseases (provides habitat for priority species
including MCLO) (
Montana
)
Wintering
- Determine
wintering MCLO habitat associations & patterns of distribution
& abundance (Osage Plains)
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- Determine
effects of exotics on grassland habitat suitability for priority
species including MCLO (
Montana
)
Demographics
- see
needs under "Effects of Management Practices"
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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