Bri Panos of Audubon Mid-Atlantic holds a saltmarsh sparrow caught during a survey at Irish Grove Sanctuary in Somerset County, Md., on June 12, 2024. The saltmarsh sparrow has experienced declines of 9% annually, leading to concerns that it may go extinct in coming decades. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)The saltmarsh sparrow depends heavily on a marsh grass called saltmeadow hay, also known as Spartina patens. But more extreme high tides are leading to more nest failures.
Panos holds a saltmarsh sparrow while conducting a SHARP rapid assessment protocol to survey birds with Sophia Seufert of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as additional staff from Audubon Mid-Atlantic and researchers from the University of Delaware at Irish Grove Sanctuary. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Sophia Seufert of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service straightens mist nets used to capture adult saltmarsh sparrows as part of the SHARP rapid assesment survey protocol. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)Hailey Glasko, a graduate student at the University of Delaware, conducts a sparrow nest search in a patch of saltmeadow hay as part of a SHARP survey at Irish Grove Sanctuary. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Several months after construction concluded in 2016, muddy tracks mark the location of a thin-layer placement restoration project near Shorter's Wharf at Blackwater National Wildlife in Dorchester County, Md. A nine-mile pipe brings a slurry mix of sediment from the bottom of the Wicomico River to Deal Island Wildlife Management Area in Somerset County, Md., as the dredging winds down in December 2023. The project was designed to raise marsh elevations significantly, to create high marsh suited to the saltmarsh sparrow.
Albert McCullough, a contractor on the Deal Island dredge project, measures the elevation of the placed sediment while balancing on the nine-mile pipe delivering the material on Dec. 1, 2023. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)Elizabeth Tymkiw, a graduate researcher at the University of Delaware, plants marsh grasses in a bare patch of the marsh elevated by dredged sediment at Deal Island Wildlife Management Area on Oct. 26, 2024. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Different species of marsh plants form streaks of color Irish Grove Sanctuary in Somerset County, Md. The coastal wetland remains a stronghold for the saltmarsh sparrow, and restoration to enhance vegetation will further enhance the habitat. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
A saltmarsh sparrow perches briefly above a patch of saltmeadow hay, where it often prefers hopping underneath to flying above. If wetland restoration can compensate for threats from nuisance flooding, the species may avoid extinction. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
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