Ecology of the Upland Sandpiper in Central Wisconsin

[摘要] The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) was a relatively scarce bird inWisconsin at the turn of the century. Beginning in the late 1920;;s, it began to reappear in itsformer breeding habitats (Buss and Hawkins 1939). Presently, however, this bird may onceagain be undergoing a change in population numbers, not only in Wisconsin, but in othersections of the country as well (Arbib 1975). In 1973, the Wisconsin Department of NaturalResources included the Upland Sandpiper on its list of species whose populations in thestate should be watched (Hine 1973). The overgrazing of pastures and draining of wetprairies has brought about the recent concern for this species in Wisconsin. The breedingbiology and habitat requirements of the Upland Sandpiper are very little known. At thetime of this study, the only detailed information available on this species was a study byBuss and Hawkins (1939) in southern Wisconsin. Although this study was fairly extensivefor that time, it left many questions unanswered. In order to help understand more aboutthese birds, I initiated a two-year study of the Upland Sandpiper in the spring of 1974 in theBuena Vista Marsh in Portage County. The prime objectives of my study were to:(1) determine habitat preference for nesting, (2) determine home range and populationdensities of nesting pairs, (3) determine nesting success, (4) describe the behavior associatedwith pre-nesting, nesting and post-nesting adults, and (5) add to the general knowledge ofthis little-studied species.The format of this thesis deviates from the traditional in that it has been written forpublication. The body has been divided into three major sections; Home Range and DailyMovement of Radio-Tagged Upland Sandpipers in Central Wisconsin, Behavior of theUpland Sandpiper in Central Wisconsin, and Breeding Biology and Habitat Use of theUpland Sandpiper in Central Wisconsin. Each section will be submitted to the WilsonBulletin for publication. Mr. John E. Toepfer will co-author the radiotelemetry paper.Material not intended for publication is found in the Appendix.

[发布机构] University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point