News and Events

SSRI Preliminary Report on Summer 2024

November 2024

 

SSRI team members were busy this summer testing possible methods for improving the breeding success of Saltmarsh Sparrow (SALS) nests at risk from tidal flooding. Although the sparrows have always nested in areas at risk of flooding, rising sea levels have greatly increased that risk and shortened the number of days SALS have to complete a nesting cycle.

 

After testing several designs for raising nests by a fixed amount, we ultimately hit upon a design that allows the nest to float with the rising tide. We've named this design the "Nest Ark." Our device is made of several readily available materials. The nest is placed in a plastic and metal coffee filter basket which is screwed to a 23 inch long, 1/2 inch diameter wooden dowel. Three closed-cell foam disks with a hole in the center are slid onto the dowel and sit under the filter basket to give it buoyancy. The unit is then placed into a 1/2 inch PVC pipe, 24 inches in length that is sunk in the marsh sediment at the original location of the nest. The pipe is plugged at the lower end so that sediment cannot enter from below. Installing the Nest Ark takes three to five minutes so disruption to the nest environment is minimal. At the end of the nest cycle the PVC pipe and the nest holder are removed. The cost of each setup is under $10 and the setup can be reused multiple times.

 

Our testing of this device showed that it was readily accepted by females who continued to provide food for nestlings and remove fecal sacs as they did before the nest arks were installed. We were able to obtain video of the Nest Ark in action that shows the female SALS visiting and feeding her nestlings while the nest rises and falls with the tide. The Nest Ark floats up with the tide and then returns to its original location about 1-1/2 inches above the marsh surface.​