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MAPS at the Lewis Center Monitoring Avian Productionand SurvivorshipHome
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Habitat Structure Analysis
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Institute for Bird Populations
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Students from the Academy for Academic Excellence have become part of the MAPS community of North American bird banders. MAPS stands for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship. Simply put, the study strives to determine what birds breed in a given area, how many of their offspring survive from year to year, and what is their preferred habitat. Beginning in May 2003, AAE students working with volunteers from the Mojave Desert Bird Club, began monitoring bird populations on Lewis Center property along Desert Knolls Wash (aka Six Wren Wash) about once every ten days. Using mist nets (12 meters long by 3 meters high) in eight locations along the wash, birds are caught in the nets, removed by team members, and taken back to the study area. During the banding operation, birds are given an appropriately sized band with a unique number on it. Birds are weighed and measured and information concerning feather molt and body fat is noted. When possible the birds are "sexed" and their ages are determined. After a few short minutes in captivity, the birds are released in the same area they were captured. The data collected by students is put in a local computer database and will be forwarded on to the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) in Point Reyes, California. A companion study, a Habitat Structure Analysis
(HSA), was conducted during the Fall of 2003 to survey the plant
structures and habitat characteristics around the eight net sites.
The IBP will correlate both the ornithology and habitat data
and add it to their North American data base. For more information
on the MAPS program, click on the link to MAPS
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