Streaked Horned Lark inventory, nesting success and habitat selection in the Puget lowlands of Washington

Author

Pearson, S.F., and Hopey, M.

Publication Year

2004

Species

Streaked horned lark

Region

Puget Trough/Lowlands

Habitat

Upland Prairie

Topic

Herbicide, Monitoring, Rare species recovery

Full Citation

Pearson, S.F., and Hopey, M. 2004. Streaked horned lark inventory, nesting success and habitat selection in the Puget lowlands of Washington. Washington Department of Natural Resources. Natural Areas Program Report, 2004-1.

The Streaked Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris strigata) is a recognized subspecies of the Horned Lark (American Ornithologists’ Union 1957) and is a federal and state candidate for listing under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. In the spring and summer of 2004 we conducted research on this subspecies at two research sites and inventoried all appropriate habitat on Ft. Lewis Washington for breeding Streaked Horned Larks. The specific objectives of this research were:

1. Describe breeding phenology and clutch size
2. Conduct an inventory of all potential streaked horned lark habitat on Ft. Lewis for the presence/absence of larks
3. Map territories of all breeding larks on Ft. Lewis
4. Assess reproductive success at Gray Army Airfield and 13th Division Prairie
5. Identify habitat features important to breeding at the nest site and territory scales
6. Use the herbicide Poast Plus to create potential lark breeding habitat
7. Assess lark flush distances