Grassland Bird Monitoring at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa: 2005-2006 Status Report

During 2005, the Heartland I&M Network and Prairie Cluster Prototype Monitoring Program (HTLN) initiated breeding bird surveys on nine plots in the reconstructed prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa to address two objectives through time. The first objective is to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance in the prairie section of the park. Our second objective is to monitor the responses of bird communities to changes in habitat structure and other habitat variables related to management activities. Results from 2005 and 2006 serve as a baseline for monitoring future changes in bird populations and habitat. We recorded 21 species of breeding birds during the two years of surveys. Twelve species are permanent residents to Iowa. The remaining nine species are summer residents only. Partners in Flight have identified three species recorded on the park as species of continental importance, the Brown thrasher, Dickcissel and Grasshopper sparrow. The Red-winged blackbird, Common yellowthroat, Dickcissel and American goldfinch were most abundant. Twelve species were represented by a single observation in one of the two baseline years. Average species richness is less than 4.5 individuals for each plot visited. However, low avian diversities are common for grassland bird communities.