Seed species in the diet of grassland sparrows Raw sequence reads

Grassland birds are among the most threatened groups of birds worldwide. Declining availability of winter habitat is a main factor threatening grassland birds. Therefore, to conserve declining grassland bird species we need more knowledge on their winter ecology, such as winter diet. Information on diet provides a means to evaluate habitat quality of grasslands across the wintering grounds and provides a tool for habitat management, a key strategy in grassland bird conservation plans. We studied the winter diet of Baird''s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) under natural conditions across the Chihuahuan Desert. To elucidate the seed species consumed during winter by these two birds, we used Next-Generation Sequencing technology and a DNA barcoding approach to identify seed species in regurgitated stomach and crop contents.