PRESERVING AVIAN HABITATS AND POPULATIONS – SAGEBRUSH-OBLIGATE SPECIES

EAS team members have participated in roadside bird surveys to provide long-term monitoring data for more than two decades. In 2012, EAS collected data to document species abundance and distribution and evaluate potential disturbance of valued habitats over large portions of the Hanford Site. We documented a total of 3,565 individual birds that represented 59 species in a variety of habitats. These surveys provide DOE a practical way to monitor changes in species richness and relative abundance of shrub-steppe birds over time and in response to various land-use changes.