Every summer Missouri becomes a wash of color and song as waves of migratory songbirds make their way north from their winter habitat in Central and South America. For many species the expansive forest and woodlands of the Missouri Ozarks provide both the habitat and resources vital for breeding and nesting. These summer residents settle into their preferred habitats such as open growth mature forest, shrubby regenerating clearcuts, and areas with dense understory to find the ideal place to nest.
As a MOFEP bird crew technician, my responsibility was to observe the behavior of these birds throughout the nine MOFEP study sites within Current River and Peck Ranch Conservation Areas. By conducting point count surveys and nest searching/monitoring, the MOFEP bird crew was able to monitor the abundance and nest success of breeding songbirds during the 2020 field season. The data we collected this season will be added to the information from over 2500 nests in nearly 30 years of breeding songbird data and will be used to monitor long-term trends in populations and nest success in relation to forest management.
The season was filled with memories I won't soon forget. Whether it was spending cool, early mornings hiking from point to point through the forest and listening to the chorus of songbirds or watching as tiny, bald nestlings matured into fuzzy, clumsy fledglings. One memory that stood out to me was the discovery of the first American redstart nest on MOFEP! Our project lead, Dr. Paul Porneluzi (Central Methodist University), said “As the forest has changed on some of the sites following harvest, we have observed more American redstarts over the years, however their nests are a challenge to find in the dense understory.” This just goes to show that, despite all that we have learned from MOFEP thus far, there are still discoveries to be made as this beautiful landscape continues to change throughout the years.
Authored by: Trevor Lindsay
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