Photo: Shannon Buckley Luepold
A collaborative study among SUNY ESF, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and New Hampshire Audubon has documented evidence on factors that limit the abundance and reproductive success of Rusty Blackbirds. These inhabitants of the Northern Forest of North America have experienced sharp population declines in recent decades. Timber harvest practices and predation by red squirrels have been hypothesized as causes of the decline. Shannon Buckley Luepold, who received her M.S. in 2013, led the project which was recently published in The Condor. Dr. Cohen served on Shannon's committee and was a co-author on the study. Shannon spent two field seasons in the Maine wilderness searching for nests of this elusive species during her time at ESF. She demonstrated the importance of small conifers and low canopy closure for nest site selection, and did not find evidence that nests in harvested stands experienced reduced nest survival. However, blackbird nests survived at a higher rate with increasing forest stand basal area, implying that pre-commercial thinning could be detrimental for Rusty Blackbird populations. She also found red squirrels to be the most common source of nest depredation in a year following high mast production. Shannon's research has been highlighted by The Wildlife Society and BirdwatchingDaily.
Photo: Shannon Buckley Luepold
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