3.3 Birds
Bufer or set-back distances between nests and recreationists that prevent impacts to nesting colonies difer by species, stage of nesting (nest initiation, egg-laying, incuba- tion, hatching, and brooding chicks), and type of disturbance activity (e.g., pedestrian, all-terrain-vehicle, of-road-vehicle, boat). Bufer distances between nests and posted signs (and, therefore, recreationists) are recommended by Erwin (2005) for Least Tern, Black Skimmer, Common Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Royal Tern, and Sandwich Tern. For American Oystercatcher, bufers are also recommended (Sabine et al. 2008) . Once chicks are present, they are particularly vulnerable to recreationists until they have fedged. Alternatively, stewards or seasonal technicians should identify and protect broods from pedestrian and vehicular trafc that might travel closer than the optimal bufer distance. In North Carolina, shorebirds and colonial waterbirds nest and roost on many state-owned dredged-material islands in rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Te type and percentage of cover provided by vegetation on these islands should vary to pro- vide habitat for diverse waterbird species. Vegetation management should be implemented using varied tools such as wetland-approved herbicides, prescribed burning, hand-pulling, mechanical equipment, and placement of beach-quality sand from dredging operations. Such vegetation management should be used to enhance land and marsh bird habitats on state-owned lands and on private lands enrolled in conservation programs. Continued collection of population data from standardized survey protocol (e.g., colonial waterbird nesting surveys, Piping Plover census window counts, winter Piping Plover sur- veys, International Shorebird Surveys, point count surveys, marsh bird surveys, etc.) will provide critical data for population status, trend, and distribution evaluation. Tese data will demonstrate efectiveness of conservation management in North Carolina for SGCN. Shorebird and colonial waterbird data are managed in online databases managed by NCWRC; however, for migratory bird species, knowledge of population status at fyway and regional scales is necessary for conservation decision-making. Migratory bird data should be shared among conservation partners using the East Coast node of the Avian Knowledge Network data management system (Eastern Avian Data Center, available online at http:// data.pointblue.org/partners/eadc). Continued management of game lands and other conservation lands for successional habitats (particularly Longleaf Pine Savanna) through fre and other disturbance meth- ods appears to be vital to the continued persistence of many species (e.g., Bachman’s Sparrow, Northern Bobwhite, Prairie Warbler). Recent studies indicate that lands man- aged for conservation harbor the bulk of occurrences in North Carolina (Taillie et al. in review) . Development of alternative habitat management practices suitable for both timber or pine straw management and nesting habitat for Bachman’s Sparrow may help expand the already contracted range of this species.
68
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online