10/17/2024
Over the past 50 years, North American breeding bird populations have lost close to 3 billion birds, with a majority of this decline coming from migratory species. Recently, the steepest declines are coming from shorebirds and from avian populations within the Mississippi and Central flyway. One species with limited data to describe their habitat use and movement patterns is Wilson’s snipe, a wide-ranging North American shorebird and migratory game species. Despite their broad distribution across the United States and Canada, and status as a migratory game bird, we still know very little about snipe movement ecology, habitat use, and their population trends!
To address these concerns, this project will examine the movement and habitat use of snipe over their full annual cycle. More specifically, we will use data from GPS transmitters to quantify movement patterns (timing, duration, location) through the snipe's diel and annual cycles, which will be used to estimate site fidelity, their seasonal home ranges, and factors influencing snipe annual survival. We will also use remotely sensed data to evaluate the biotic and abiotic conditions used by snipe across each season. The results of this project will fill critical knowledge gaps for this species with regards to migration and habitat use during the breeding and non-breeding seasons, which is necessary to effectively manage the species, predict how snipe may respond to future changes in land use or environmental conditions, and ensure future hunting opportunities for this unique migratory game bird.
