Utahns Search for Imperiled Snowy Plover
By Natalie Clemens Deseret Morning News
Researchers are scouring Antelope Island State Park in search of the endangered snowy plover, a sparrow-size bird with a white breast and brown back that lives on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
Weber State University zoology professor John Cavitt received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to coordinate and implement a monthlong survey that will be used to prevent extinction of the small migratory bird.
According to the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, the snowy plover population is highly imperiled. The bird’s coastal population is designated as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Cavitt said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated the survey of the entire interior population of the bird.
“A lot of biologists are concerned about the interior population,” he said. “In order to do any kind of conservation action for the species, it’s critical that we know how many there are.”
An estimated 50 percent of the snowy plover population lives along the Great Salt Lake shoreline.
Since May 7, researchers from several agencies have been visiting more than 300 sites along the Great Salt Lake shore looking for the birds.
Because many of the sites were difficult to reach, the surveyors used airboats and ATVs to visit the sites.
A number of efforts combined to conduct the survey including WSU faculty and students, officials for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Antelope Island State Park, US Magnesium, Kennecott Utah Copper, the Tracy Aviary and local area bird watchers.
“The Great Salt Lake is a critical breeding site for the species,” Cavitt said.
Cavitt said researchers do not know why the bird’s population is diminishing. However, he said habitat loss may be contributing to the problem. The snowy plover has some specialized habitat requirements, he added.
“They really like the mud flats and the playa that are surrounding the lake, and those kind of habitats are fairly rare outside of the Great Salt Lake,” Cavitt said.
Cavitt said the surveyors followed specific protocol when tracking the birds. The volunteers worked in teams of two using GPS units to locate specific sites. Then, each volunteer started at a different corner in that site and walked through the land in a zig- zag pattern. In areas that they spotted snowy plovers, they went back and counted the birds.
The researchers documented where they saw the birds, how many of them there were, and the birds’ behavior.
Cavitt said he was encouraged that the surveyors were finding birds in areas where they thought they should be.
Similar surveys are being conducted or will be conducted in Nevada, Oregon, Oklahoma and other states.
Eventually the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service together with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will use the information Cavitt and the others gathered to make decisions about the snowy plover’s population.
The monthlong project also included collaboration with the University of Nayarit in Mexico. That university is close to where many of the snowy plovers from the Great Salt Lake area spend the winter months.
Two students from the university have been helping with the survey. Cavitt said those students will go back to Mexico and train other students at the University of Nayarit to do surveys on the birds.
Cavitt said he enjoyed working with other researchers on the project, which will conclude today
“The neat part is working with all the different agencies and people involved,” he said. “Really everybody had the best interest of this species in mind. Everyone was great to work with.”
E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com
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