Population Change of White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia Albicollis) in West Virginia During Winter season

Jisu Kim*, Christopher Rota, Stephanie Augustine, and Hannah L. Clipp

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation Category: Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (Poster Presentation #68)

Student’s Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) are migratory birds in passerellidae family. They are generally in northeast. In summer, during breeding season, they move to Canada, the norther eastern U.S. and the northern Midwest. During their non-breeding season in winter, from December to March, they migrate to eastern and southern U.S. including West Virginia. There are some migratory birds that migrate irruptively such as common redpoll (Acanthis flammea) that migrate mostly within Canada and handle with cold climate. Lately during recent resights, there has been some decreased sights of white-throated sparrows and brought a question that would they respond or migrate same as before with different temperature? To bring it to actual finding, we are comparing the population of this specie in several hotspots in West Virginia and southern states with the population in past using eBird and other resight data. Also, we are comparing the population change of white-throated sparrow with the population of northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) as they are all-year-around birds not migrating elsewhere. By setting northern cardinals as baseline, we can observe whether there is an actual change for white-throated sparrow migration or not.

Funding: West Virginia University

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course