Life on the Edge: Impacts of Habitat Fragmentation on Grassland Songbirds

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An orchard edge plot adjacent to the border in the Okanagan valley.	Chipping Sparrow nest with a full clutch of eggs.	Although not a target species for the study, this Common Nighthawk nestling is only a few hours old.
Camouflaged camera set up to monitor a Vesper Sparrow nest.	Field technicians Greg and Sonia measuring shrub cover at an interior habitat plot.	Although not grassland obligate, Lazuli Buntings are a common songbird detected on point counts.
This photo of a Lark Sparrow parent bringing food to the nest was taken remotely by a nest camera.	Lark Sparrows are another species of ground-nesting grassland songbird. This nest was found under a small sage bush.	These Lark Sparrow nestlings are approximately four days old.
An interior habitat plot in the Similkameen valley looking south over the valley.	Vesper Sparrow nestlings are being carefully removed from a nest for measurement and weighing, and will be replaced within ten minutes of removal.	A fledged Vesper Sparrow nest under a sagebrush shrub.
A six-day old Vesper Sparrow nestling after being measured and weighed.	A full clutch of day old Vesper Sparrow nestlings.	This photo of Vesper Sparrow nestlings begging for food was taken remotely by a nest camera.
Looking down on the Similkameen river and a vineyard from an interior plot.	Adult Vesper Sparrow surveying his territory from a rocky perch.	Prickly pear cactus.
A yellow-bellied racer is caught on nest camera taking a Vesper Sparrow nestling from a nest. The nestling can be seen upside down in the lower left corner of the photo.		Adult Vesper Sparrow perched on a large sagebrush shrub at an interior plot. The vineyards of the Okanagan valley can be seen in the background.