Suggestions for establishing a network of landbird migration monitoring sites
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
Landbird migration monitoring stations, primarily using constant-effort mist netting and sometimes specialized censuses, are valuable because: (1) many of the species captured, especially northern-nesting ones, are not well surveyed by other methods; (2) demographic and other vital information for management and conservation can readily be collected; and (3) such stations provide excellent opportunities for education and outreach activities. Migration monitoring helps us describe and understand the causes of large-scale trends in population size or other parameters. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for choosing focal species for migration monitoring, accuracy targets for estimating trends in population size and fitness parameters, and present a simple model which clarifies the factors to consider in selecting migration monitoring sites and designing the monitoring programs at them.