Article

Landbird Population Trends in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network, 2024

Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park,

A western meadowlark, a yellow, black, and white bird, sings from the top of a shrub with its beak open and head tilted back.
Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)

NPS

Why Monitor Landbirds?

Birds are key components in most ecosystems. They occur at various levels in the food web, providing an important service as they move energy throughout an ecosystem and a variety of habitats. They’re appealing to the public as they can be observed through both sight and sound. Because they can be sensitive to habitat change, birds are good indicators of ecosystem integrity.

Birds that rely on arid habitats, like those found in parks of the Northern Colorado Plateau Network, are among the most vulnerable to population declines due to warming temperatures and increasing land use (Rosenberg and others 2016). Northern Colorado Plateau Network’s long-term bird monitoring program conducts regular check-ins of bird population status and trends in the parks. This allows managers to make timely decisions and quickly respond to any undesirable changes. It can also inform us about landbird status in more-impacted areas in the Intermountain West.

How is the Monitoring Done?

Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitors trends in breeding-bird species by habitat in various parks in the Northern Colorado Plateau. During each breeding season, our partner, the University of Delaware, surveys 15 transects in each of three habitats of interest (low-elevation riparian, pinyon-juniper, and sage shrubland). Additionally, at Pipe Spring National Monument, point counts and area searches are conducted as part of a modified monitoring design.

What’s the Latest News?

Over 19 years of data collection, 16,996 point-count surveys have been conducted in 11 Northern Colorado Plateau Network parks, detecting 166 unique species. During the 2024 field season, 618 point-count surveys were conducted, detecting 110 unique species.

Using data from 2005-2024, 118 population-density trends were estimated across the three habitats. There were sufficient sample sizes to estimate the densities of 61 species in at least one of the three habitats surveyed. Eighteen, or 30%, of the estimated density trends were significant (p-value <0.05), including seven negative trends and eleven positive trends.

First Time Observations

The observers had several detections of species in new locations. For example, in 2024, American wigeon (Mareca americana) was observed in Fossil Butte National Monument. This was the first time this species was observed in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network by the monitoring program.

Several other species were detected in individual park units for the first time in this monitoring program. Red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) and Cassin’s kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans) were detected in Bryce Canyon National Park, chukar (Alectoris chukar) was detected in Canyonlands National Park, white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) was detected in Capitol Reef National Park, gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) was detected in Curecanti National Recreation Area and Dinosaur National Monument, Eurasian collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) and sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis) in Dinosaur National Monument, and American wigeon (Mareca americana), and white-throated swift (Aeronautes saxatalis) in Fossil Butte National Monument.

A total of 105 individuals of 27 species were recorded in Pipe Spring NM in 2024. Sample sizes were too low for estimation of density trends.

Significant density trends table for landbird species in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network, 2024

ANA = not enough data available; – = no trend
Species Low-elevation riparian
habitatA		 Pinyon-juniper
habitat		 Sagebrush shrubland
habitat
Mourning dove ↓ ↓ –
White-throated swift ↓ ↓ –
Hairy woodpecker ↑ NA NA
Bushtit ↑ – NA
Bewick's wren – ↓ NA
Mountain bluebird NA ↓ –
American robin ↑ – –
Yellow warbler ↑ NA –
Yellow-rumped warbler – ↑ –
Grace's warbler NA – ↑
Yellow-breasted chat ↑ NA NA
Vesper sparrow NA ↑ –
Western tanager – ↑ ↑
Lazuli bunting – ↑ –
Western meadowlark NA – ↓

How is this Information Used?

Monitoring provides health check-ups for bird populations and the habitats they depend on. It allows scientists to quickly identify and communicate changes in the status and trends of bird species and their environments to managers who can then make timely, informed decisions to protect and conserve the resources in their parks. Data from this monitoring are also useful for park planning documents, such as Natural Resource Condition Assessment and State of the Park reports and demonstrate the importance of unimpaired national park landscapes and their value to bird communities.

Where are Landbirds Monitored?

Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitors landbirds in 12 network units: Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion national parks; Colorado, Dinosaur, Fossil Butte, Natural Bridges, and Pipe Spring national monuments; and Curecanti National Recreation Area.

Tags

Last updated: February 11, 2025