Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Name
Wildlife Biology
Department or School/College
W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation
Committee Chair
Dr. Erim Gómez
Committee Co-chair
Dr. Andy Boyce
Commitee Members
Dr. Lisa Eby, Dr. Jedidiah Brodie, Anna Noson M.S.
Keywords
bioacoustics, rare and cryptic species, survey methods, ornithology, habitat associations, riparian forest
Subject Categories
Integrative Biology | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Abstract
Habitat associations are important to understand for management and conservation but are difficult to study for rare and cryptic species, as simply monitoring for occurrence presents unique challenges. Passive, autonomous data collection methods can provide larger quantities of data compared to traditional methods and can lead to new insights for these species. We used passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to study Black-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), a low density, cryptic, and poorly-understood species, on the western range edge of their range in the Northern Great Plains. We first compared PAM with playback surveys, the traditional monitoring method for C. erythropthalmus, in terms of detection probability and monitoring costs. Using occupancy models, we evaluated detection probability, and we compared costs by estimating budgets for three years of monitoring with each method. We found that PAM delivers higher detection probability for lower costs, which was driven by our efficient use of a machine learning classifier to extract acoustic signals and the remote nature of our study system. Second, we used PAM to investigate habitat use at multiple spatial scales and evaluate whether covariates associated with probability of use are also associated with intensity of use as a proxy for likelihood of breeding. We first examined vegetation characteristics associated with probability of use via occupancy models at three spatial scales, then applied the significant covariates from the occupancy models in a generalized linear model with intensity of vocal activity at a site as a response. Our results indicate that C. erythropthalmus is more likely to use sites with vegetation characteristics associated with mid to late successional riparian forests, and that these same characteristics are also associated with an increased intensity of use and thus likelihood of breeding. As practitioners seek to scale up monitoring efforts for rare and cryptic species to meet today’s conservation challenges, our study presents an informative comparison of two commonly applied monitoring methods within contexts shared by many areas and taxa. The results of this study also demonstrate how the larger quantity of data provided by autonomous methods can provide new insights on the ecology of understudied, rare and cryptic species.
Recommended Citation
Kurtin, Anna M., "Comparing Survey Methods and Investigating Habitat Use of Black-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) in the Northern Great Plains" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12436.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12436
© Copyright 2025 Anna M. Kurtin
