NFWF Grant Profile

The proposed project will fund the prioritization of on-the-ground management practices across multiple SPIRIT focal areas to benefit the Baird’s sparrow, a declining migratory songbird that breeds almost exclusively in the Northern Great Plains, migrates across the southern Great Plains, and winters in the Chihuahuan Desert. We will use a newly-developed analytical tool developed from data collected across the full annual cycle for this species (through previous support from the SPIRIT program) to simulate different conservation actions and the resulting effects on the Baird’s sparrow population. Outcomes include knowledge of conservation actions and thresholds that can most effectively lessen decline of the Baird’s sparrow across its geography, prioritization of conservation implementation and on-the-ground management across this same geography, and communication of findings with project partners and landowners through Bird Conservancy’s long-standing stewardship program.