| Patuxent Science Meeting 2006 Poster Abstract |
| | 60-year changes in Patuxent breeding birds |
| | Robbins CS |
| | Three methods, Point Counts, Breeding Bird Survey, and Atlas, are used to detect bird |
| | population changes on and adjacent to the Patuxent Research Refuge. The initial count of |
| | 5,429 pairs of birds of 80 species nesting on Patuxent's original 2,656 acres was conducted in |
| | 1943. Subsequent field projects have documented habitat preferences and changes in species |
| | composition and abundance, the most recent being point count surveys by Danny Bystrak in |
| | 1996 and 1997 and the MD/DC atlas projects of 1983-87 and 2002-06. Of the 80 original |
| | species, three grassland birds are now extirpated: Horned Lark, Vesper Sparrow, and Henslow's |
| | Sparrow. Of the 46 additional breeding species found here since the original survey in 1943, 13 |
| | had responded to the construction of wetlands, five were introduced by man, two were attracted |
| | by nest boxes, one responded to aging of the deciduous forest, five were southern species |
| | expanding northward, six were species at the edge of their breeding range, eleven were species |
| | for which little suitable habitat was available, and three remain unassigned. Atlas data are used |
| | to show bird population changes at Patuxent over the past 20 years. Atlas studies can be |
| | extremely valuable as conservation tools. Most of the eastern United States has already been |
| | covered by one or two atlas studies. Everyone lives in an atlas block, so the changes detected |
| | relate to everybody's back yard or local park or favorite birding area. |
| | Friday, September 22, 2006 |