Bird monitoring at Homestead National Historical Park, Nebraska: Status report 2009–2022

In 2009, the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network initiated bird surveys on Homestead National Historical Park to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance and improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and their habitat and the effects of management actions on those relationships. This information helps park staff plan management objectives and assess the effectiveness of management alternatives. We evaluated park breeding bird trends in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s Central Mixed Grass Prairie Bird Conservation Region where the park is located. This allows us to assess the influence of park habitat management on bird populations with an understanding of regional population trends that are outside the influence of natural resource management activities at the park. Ninety-eight species of birds were recorded on the park in 14 years (2009–2022). Eighty-one of the species are considered breeding species (permanent or summer residents). Two of these are species of concern for the Central Mixed Grass Prairie Bird Conservation Region. Eighteen species were observed in sufficient numbers to calculate annual abundances and trends with some degree of statistical confidence. The Dickcissel, Red-winged Blackbird, House Wren, and Common Yellowthroat were the most abundant and widespread species on the park. Comparisons of regional trends (2009–2019; Sauer et al. 2020) with park population trends were inconclusive. Red-winged Blackbird had a moderately increasing park population, but trends of the other 17 abundant species on the park were uncertain. Regionally, the Gray Catbird and Yellow Warbler were increasing, the Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Yellowthroat, Mourning Dove, Northern Bobwhite, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Red-winged Blackbird were declining, and the remaining 10 species had uncertain population trends. Diversity, richness, and evenness in distribution of individuals across species in the park breeding bird community were unchanged over the 14 years. When sampled, habitats on the plots at Homestead National Historical Park consisted primarily of the field/prairie and woodland vegetation types, with lesser amounts of other types present. Canopy cover of hardwood trees averaged 18 to 33% on plots, basal area averaged 7 to 10 m2/ha, and canopy height averaged 7 to 10 m. Tree species from 10 different families contrib¬uted to the canopy cover and basal area of plots. Plots sampled were primarily unvegetated at ground level, with grass litter common and bare soil exposed. Total foliar cover at ground level on plots consisted primarily of cool season grasses and forbs.