Grassland & Savanna Birds (SECAS Goal Trends)

<p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Yearly trend</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>When averaged across all points with trends, grassland and savanna bird abundance declined by 2.2% per year from 2012-2022.<span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>Species used were American kestrel, Bachman's sparrow, Eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow's sparrow, LeConte's sparrow, loggerhead shrike, Northern Bobwhite, prairie warbler, red-cockaded woodpecker, and scissor-tailed flycatcher. These species</span> are Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need for states in the Southeast, primarily occur in this ecosystem, and have sufficient data for trend analysis in eBird Status and Trends. Most points across the SECAS region were declining. For most individual species, a majority of points were declining, but there were also a number of points with increases. Two species with most of their range in the longleaf pine ecosystem had a larger number of increasing points than other species: red-cockaded woodpecker (58% increasing) and Bachman’s sparrow (43% increasing). Breeding Bird Survey trends, which cover more coarse areas, also show similar patterns.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>On track to meet SECAS goal</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>No. The decline of about 8.8% every 4 years is not enough to meet the SECAS goal of a 1% increase every 4 years.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Data source</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'><a href='https://science.ebird.org/en/status-and-trends' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>eBird Status and Trends</span></a><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'></span></p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Confidence in trend</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>Medium. Most of the points (65%) that were declining and off track for the goal were statistically significant.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Interpretation</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>This is an indicator of both local and landscape conditions across the grassland and savanna ecosystem. Large declines across most of the region highlight the major problems for this ecosystem and the species that depend on it. Signs of improvement in the longleaf range, South Florida, the Chihuahuan Desert, the West Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Appalachians show that targeted conservation attention can still have an impact. Improvements in specific species like red-cockaded woodpecker and Bachman’s sparrow also show that targeted improvements in habitat quality can make a major difference.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Other information available</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>A table of state-level summaries for each species, a map by Bird Conservation Region (BCR), and tabular data associated with the chart above are available in Appendix I</span> of the pdf report: <a href='https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SECAS-goal-report-2024.pdf' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SECAS-goal-report-2024.pdf</a>.</p>