Photo: Bryan Stokes
Photo: Bryan Stokes
REPORTS, MAPS, AND DATA
Saltmarsh Sparrow Nest Habitat Associations and Reproductive Success in a Salt Marsh in Rhode Island
The final report of SSRI research findings has been published in Northeastern Naturalist (Vol 32, Issue 4). Use this link to download a PDF of the paper and this link to download supplementary files. Many thanks to all the members of our team over the years who made this paper possible. Thanks also to the Warren Land Trust for their support in allowing SSRI to conduct this research at their Jacob's Point Preserve and to Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, RI Natural History Survey, RI Audubon, RI Department of Environmental Management, and all our donors for their support of this project.
SSRI Project Report Published as Spring 2021 RI Naturalist Special Issue 1
A report of SSRI research findings has been published as a special issue of the Rhode Island Naturalist. The paper is titled: Relationships of Nest-Site Selection and Nest Success of Saltmarsh Sparrows (Ammospiza caudacuta) in Upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
First Record of White-tailed Deer Depredating Saltmarsh Sparrow Nests
During the Summer of 2022, the SSRI carried out field work using trail cameras placed near Saltmarsh Sparrow nests at Jacob's Point in an effort to identity nest predators. Although we had limited success, we had one major finding: we captured two instances where it appeared that White-tailed Deer were eating SALS eggs out of the nests. To our knowledge, this is the first recorded evidence of this behavior in a salt marsh environment. White-tailed deer have been seen to eat eggs of ground-nesting birds in other environments, so this is not too surprising. The results of our study appeared in the journal Northeastern Naturalist in 2023.
A Developmental Guide to Aging Saltmarsh Sparrow Nestlings
Deirdre Robinson has prepared a photo guide to aid in determining the age of Saltmarsh Sparrow nestlings for our team to use in the field. We are making this available for download as a service to other researchers working with SALS.
Why is it helpful to determine the age of a SALS nestling?
The short answer is that it allows researchers to document the early development in the life history of this endangered species and correlate breeding success or failure with nestling age. Finding a nest with any combination of eggs and young allows us to retroactively determine when the nest was constructed and the first egg laid. This data informs us about potential changes in the breeding cycle over time as well as how the nesting cycle is impacted by flooding or depredation events.
2017/2018 Interim Results Report
This report provides a full review of our work through 2018 at Jacob's Pond Salt Marsh.