Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge; Volunteers Carolyn Szaroletta and Larry Abraham extricate a sedge wren from a mist net. - FWS photo by Steven Kahl

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge; An adult male American Goldfinch with a new USGS band. - FWS photo by Steven Kahl

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge; David Peters works to remove a female red-winged blackbird from a mist net. - FWS photo by Steven Kahl

Volunteers and staff began their ninth year of participating in the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. 

The MAPS program is coordinated by the Institute for Bird Populations and is endorsed by several federal agencies and conservation groups, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey – Biological Resources Discipline, National Audubon Society, and Partners in Flight. 

MAPS data have yielded over 150 papers and publications over the past 11 years.  One of the primary goals of MAPS is to track the population trends and productivity of over 100 targeted bird species from data on the numbers and proportions of young and adult birds captured.  The refuge’s MAPS station is one of over 500 across the continent and is one of only a few that monitors birds in grassland habitat.

Operating a MAPS station involves mist netting birds for six morning-hours per day, for one day during each of six 10-day periods.  All birds captured are identified to species, age and sex and are ringed with a uniquely numbered aluminum band provided by USGS. 

Staff and volunteers completed training to identify several characteristics to age and sex birds such as moult progression, feather wear, body fat, and brood patch. 

MAPS protocol requires participants to record all bird species seen or heard in the vicinity of the station on every day of operation.  In addition, standardized quantitative habitat descriptions are prepared for each major habitat type contained in the station.

While contributing to a larger continental project, the refuge’s MAPS station also yields important local information.  The most common species captured at the refuge’s MAPS site include common yellowthroat, red-winged blackbird, bobolink, and savannah sparrow. 

Unusual species captured include American bittern, belted kingfisher, ruby-throated hummingbird, and mourning warbler.  Each year operators catch birds that have been banded at the station in prior years. 

One of the most successful years occurred the year following a prescribed fire at the MAPS station.  Banders captured almost twice the annual average of individual birds after the burn.  Interestingly, sedge wrens decreased dramatically that year.