| Successful Use of Volunteer Birders Conducting
Point Counts of Migratory Birds on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish
Refuge Eric Nelson1 and Carol Damberg 1, 2
INTRODUCTION The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the longest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. Beginning at the confluence of the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers near Wabasha, Minnesota, the Refuge extends 420 km south to Rock Island, Illinois, covering 81,000 ha of floodplain forest, backwater wetlands, and impounded reservoirs. More than 290 bird species use this north-south corridor. During past decades, standardized inventories were conducted only for waterfowl, bald eagles, and colonial nesting migratory birds on the Refuge. Recently, concerns about nongame bird population declines (Hagan and Johnston 1992), particularly Neotropical migrants, have inspired managers and researchers to add these birds to wildlife inventories. The refuge now uses standardized point counts for determining population trends and habitat associations of passerine birds during migration and the breeding season. Detection of birds requires expert knowledge of bird identification through visual and sound clues; such expertise is held by few members of the Refuge staff. Therefore, we solicit the assistance of volunteers to conduct most of the counts. This paper describes how volunteers conducted point counts during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. METHODS Migratory bird surveys on the Refuge are conducted using point count methodologies adapted from those developed by Ralph et al. (1993). These counts involve an observer recording all birds seen or heard within a 25, 50, or 100 meter radius circle for a 10 minute interval, conducted between 0600 and 1000 hrs. during the migration and breeding seasons. Points are located at least 250 meters apart, and usually are within walking distance of access roads. Such counts are labor intensive and require birding expertise. Thus, to have enough people to conduct sufficient counts over the 1994 and 1995 seasons, we used local contacts and word of mouth to obtain the assistance of 5 volunteer birders in 1994 and 11 in 1995. These volunteers received training from Refuge staff in bird identification, count methods, estimation of distances, coding field data sheets, and accessing the survey points. Experience levels for volunteers and staff members range from 2 to more than 35 years of birding. In 1995, we initiated a bird song identification test to assess the volunteers’ birding proficiency. All seven birders who were tested achieved at least a 94% proficiency on songs of 49 locally breeding species that had been detected in studies of the Mississippi River floodplain by Emlen (1986) and Knutson (1995). Each birder was provided a practice tape to review the songs, and then tested using a tape of those species in a different order. The remaining four birders not tested were well-known for their years of birding expertise. Volunteers received data sheets, watches with timers, and hip boots to complete the work. The refuge paid mileage costs to those who used their own vehicles. RESULTS Volunteers completed hundred of counts distributed throughout 6 major habitats on the river corridor in 1994 and 1995. Of all surveys conducted in 1995, volunteers contributed 300 of the 475 hours necessary to complete 605 surveys (Table 1). Table 1. Volunteer and staff effort spent in conducting seasonal bird point counts on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, 1995.
In 1995, we found that for many species, the mean number of birds detected per point in bottomland forest habitats was comparable to those found in research conducted by Knutson (1995) during the Flood of 1993 and the recovery year of 1994 on the Upper Mississippi River. For other species our numbers were higher than in 1993 and 1994, and perhaps reflect population and habitat recovery in the monitoring area. This concept remains speculative, pending further analyses. We encountered problems of volunteers submitting incomplete data sheets (missing data) and conducting bird surveys outside the designated survey periods. Approximately 10% to 15% of the data sheets were incomplete, lacking a point count number, habitat code, or having an incomplete bird name abbreviation. These problems were resolved through individual contacts from our office. We also had to deal with observer confusion regarding the definitions of "fly-overs" and "fly-throughs." Program coordinators had to reiterate many of the definitions and protocols used in the surveys. We kept in contact with the volunteers via telephone regarding incomplete data or access problems, and via letters and memos to provide encouragement, thank volunteers for submitting data sheets, and to remind them of upcoming count periods. After the 1994 survey season, we held a volunteer recognition evening program. Volunteers received refreshments, Refuge T-shirts, data summaries of the point counts that each observer completed, and a Refuge-wide summary table. In addition, discussion took place about which birds were seen or not seen, access problems, suggestions for making the survey more efficient, and the importance of the refuge for migrating and breeding birds. DISCUSSION An important concern about having volunteers (and staff) conduct this type of work is maintaining quality control. This is particularly true during the early years of establishing a corps of qualified observers that can participate in point count surveys for many years. Early quality control will eliminate “bad habits” or tendencies of birders to bias their counts by extending the count area or time period, or selecting “hot spots” for birding. These concerns are applicable to both the seasoned and neophyte birder. Once consistent locations and timing are established, birder comfort levels stabilize, to the benefit of count reliability. A successful program includes providing volunteers with complete instructions and lots of follow-up, a time-consuming process. Quality assurance will be strengthened through testing participants for hearing abilities, knowledge of bird songs, and speed of detection. Field practice and orientation also are important. Public recognition and mementos for volunteer work are also vital to ensuring continued involvement. Volunteers have been participating in various bird monitoring projects throughout the world for many years. Our experience on the Refuge reinforces the value of including volunteers in monitoring birds at both the local level and on a larger scale such as the Mississippi River corridor. LITERATURE CITED
1 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2 Current address |