Laserfiche WebLink
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />This report provides a contemporary assessment of the status of the endangered <br />interior least tern and the threatened piping plover in Nebraska to serve as a <br />basis for species and resource management decisions. Information collected <br />during recent systematic surveys along major rivers of the state (i.e., the <br />Platte, Missouri, and Niobrara) through the 1986 breeding season has been <br />summarized from agency progress reports and other documents, and presented in <br />context with historical sighting records and published literature. Because of <br />concerted regulatory attention and concern associated with proposed water <br />resource applications involving the Platte River, additional focus has been <br />placed on evaluating the species' use of this system in light of habitat <br />changes that have occurred to date. Following is a synopsis of key <br />information. <br />NESTING HABITS <br />Interior least terns and piping plovers are primarily colonial nesters and in <br />Nebraska they frequently occur in heterogeneous colonies. They typically <br />construct their nests (shallow, bowl - shaped depressions) on the surface of <br />relatively open sandbars, beaches, or spoil deposits near standing or flowing <br />water bodies. Utilization of specific sites for nesting appears to be <br />dependent on sufficient water in the vicinity of the site to support a readily <br />available source of aquatic food items (i.e., small fish for terns, and aquatic <br />invertebrates for plovers). In Nebraska, the breeding season for both species <br />is essentially the same, extending from approximately May through late August, <br />although plovers may arrive at breeding areas several weeks in advance of terns <br />(Faanes 1983). Upon completion of the breeding season, the birds return to <br />wintering grounds along the Gulf of Mexico (plovers), and the coast of Central <br />America eastward along the northern coast of South America (terns). <br />HISTORICAL SIGHTINGS <br />Because region -wide censuses of interior least tern populations were not <br />conducted until 1975, the status of this species was uncertain prior to that <br />time (Erwin 1984). Moreover, although Russel (1983) referred to the northern <br />plains population of the piping plover as "healthy ", there has been a general <br />lack of quantitative survey data until recent years. The occasional, <br />qualitative observations that comprised the historical sightings records for <br />Nebraska, prior to the onset of systematic censusing, led to conflicting <br />impressions regarding the species' status in the state. Normalized analyses of <br />non - systematic sightings data, however, reflect trends of stability or increase <br />in reported occurrence since 1945. In addition, the known geographical <br />distribution of both species in Nebraska has increased over time as more <br />counties have reported sightings. Since the late 1800's least terns and piping <br />plovers have been observed in 54 (58 percent) and 32 (34 percent) of Nebraska's <br />93 counties, respectively. For both species, the number of counties, reporting <br />sightings has more than doubled since 1945 and, in most cases, counties of <br />record border or include portions of major rivers in the state. Although, to <br />some extent, these distribution trends may be related to an increase in <br />observers, they do not suggest greater localization or rarity of the species <br />over time. <br />i <br />