[mou] Comments on MOURC, long

[Jeff Price]

--- "Alt, Mark" <Mark.Alt@BestBuy.com> wrote:
>If > anyone has a methodology and an idea of where to
go > to find King Rails, let me know.  It can't be
much harder than chasing Yellow Rails in McGregor, and
I considered that fun. 

Years ago there was a concentrated effort to find
Yellow Rails in North Dakota.  The surveyor (Gordon
Berkey?) found far more Yellow Rail locations than
previously known. 

There have been various techniques put forward to look
for wetland species.  Many of them are variants on
call counts with tape playback.  As long as the
methodology is consistent then you are making a
reasonable effort.  For King Rail it might mean -

1) Identify areas the species is likely to be found (a
wheatfield won't cut it).  If there are roads then you
can use a road survey.  If not, it may mean some work
in boats.  

2) Determine an adequate distance between survey
points (this might take some literature review). 
Maybe every quarter of a mile, maybe a half-mile,
maybe a mile.

3) Stop at that point during peak calling period and
listen for 1 minute.  If you hear a rail mark it
present and move on.  If you don't, play a tape for a
period of time (again, check the literature).  Stop
and listen for 1 minute.  Try again.  No response,
assume bird is not present.

4) Repeat for other wetlands on your survey route.

Obviously, this would need to be refined but the goal
is a survey not a population estimate nor looking for
population trends.  




=====
Jeff Price
Boulder, CO
jtpbirder@yahoo.com

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