Life Sciences Commons^™

Abundance And Density Of Mountain Plover (Charadrius Montanus) And Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia) In Eastern Colorado, Heather C. Tipton, Paul F. Doherty Jr., Victoria J. Dreitz

Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications

Because of continental-scale declines of grassland birds over the past century, conservation agendas are focused on increasing understanding of grassland bird ecology and habitat associations. Shortgrass prairie is a unique grassland ecosystem maintained, in part, by Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) and western Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are species of conservation concern known to be associated with prairie dog colonies. We estimated abundance of Mountain Plovers and Burrowing Owls in three habitats within the Colorado shortgrass prairie ecosystem— prairie dog colonies, grassland not occupied by prairie dogs, and …