Comparison of grassland bird stopover and breeding habitat use in Illinois

Grassland birds are declining at an alarming rate, and there has been little research on the stopover behavior and habitat needs of migratory grassland species. Considering heightened mortality risk during migration, uncovering what attributes comprise good stopover habitat is necessary to best conserve these species. My thesis research is focused on the habitat use of grassland birds listed as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in Illinois, especially during spring and fall migration. To find which grassland characteristics were most important to each species, I surveyed grassland birds from late-March/early-April through October in 2022 and 2023. During this period, I also collected data on vegetation and management activities. Logistic regression models were used to analyze and compare the impact of vegetation composition, type, and density, as well as site size, management activities, and surrounding landscape on the likelihood of each species’ presence. The habitat variables that best explained grassland bird detections at any given site were the surrounding landscape and vegetation composition. However, the variable(s) influencing the presence of grassland birds differed between species and season. Conservation efforts could target individual species by focusing on localized management to attain preferred vegetation structure, but the biggest impact for grassland SGCN as a whole would be to prioritize creating landscapes that contain more grasslands.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Suckow, Nicole M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ward, Michael P.
• Stodola, Kirk
• Benson, Thomas J.

• Grassland Bird
• Stopover

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Nicole Suckow

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129784

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129784