Abstract:

The dataset includes all field data collected on breeding secretive marsh bird use of marsh terraces and accompanying non-terraced sites (e.g., coastal marsh). Breeding secretive marsh bird surveys were conducted between 2019-04-16 to 2019-06-29 and 2021-04-09 to 2021-06-25. Due to the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic, no field sample occurred in 2020. Breeding secretive marsh bird surveys employed a two-observer design following the protocol recommended by C.J. Conway (2011).

Suggested Citation:

McFarland, Madelyn. 2023. Survey data of breeding secretive marsh bird use of marsh terraces and non-terraced sites in Louisiana, 2019-04-16 to 2019-06-29 and 2021-04-09 to 2021-06-25. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/1yt8sn4v

Purpose:

To record the use of breeding secretive marsh bird on marsh terraces and non-terraced sites between April to June of 2019 and 2021.

Data Parameters and Units:

visit number, date (mm/dd/yy), site (unique site identifier), observer (initials), time of high tide (hh:mm), start time of survey (hh:mm), sky (cloud cover- National Weather Service Sky Code), wind speed (kilometers/hour), type (bird group focal and non-focal), species (acronym), number of individuals, year (yyyy) Common names for alpha bird codes below: o AMCO - American Coot o BTGR - Boat-tailed Grackle o COGR - Common Grackle o COMO - Common Moorhen o COYE - Common Yellowthroat o KCRA - King/Clapper Rail o LEBI - Least Bittern o MAWR - Marsh Wren o PBGR - Pied-billed Grebe o PUGA - Purple Gallinule o RWBL - Red-winged Blackbird o SESP - Seaside Sparrow

Methods:

Breeding secretive marsh bird surveys employed a two-observer design following the protocol recommended by C.J. Conway (2011). This point count protocol requires that birds are surveyed when they are most vocal, either right after sunrise or prior to sunset. Surveys were conducted in the morning, between 30 minutes before sunrise and three hours after sunrise. Surveys were conducted monthly for each paired site within the peak of the marsh bird breeding season (April-June), yielding 3 surveys per site per year. Observers collected environmental data at each site prior to beginning the survey, followed by a 5-minute settling period. The first 5 minutes of the survey consisted of passive listening for focal and non-focal secretive marsh bird species. For the remaining 7 minutes, a speaker was used to broadcast call play backs for focal SMB species. The play backs consisted of 30 seconds of calls followed by 30 seconds of silence before broadcasting the next focal species’ calls. For each survey period, one observer recorded focal species while the other recorded non-focal species, alternating between surveys.

Provenance and Historical References:

Conway CJ. 2011. Standardized North American marsh bird monitoring protocol. Waterbirds 34:319-346.

Individual Files: