Loggerhead Shrike (<i>Lanius ludovicianus</i>) in the Gulf Coast Joint Venture Region, USA: Status, Habitat Delivery, and Monitoring

The United States Gulf of Mexico coastal region provides important habitat for resident and wintering Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus); however, as in most of the species' range populations have declined since the 1970's.Possible factors in declines include loss and alteration of grassland habitat, changes in farming practices, contaminants, and introduced competitor species.The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) is a regionally based, biologically driven, landscape-oriented volunteer partnership of private, state, and federal conservation organizations dedicated to the delivery of habitat important to priority bird species.Loggerhead Shrike is a priority species for the GCJV partnership.The GCJV partnership's Coastal Grassland Restoration Incentive Program (C-GRIP) provides financial incentives to private landowners for conducting habitat treatments that address the greatest limiting factors to provide suitable grassland bird habitat on their property.Implemented in 2018, the C-GRIP program is a way for the GCJV to deliver bird habitat to meet its planning objectives for Loggerhead Shrike and other grassland birds.GCJV staff have developed a monitoring protocol to assess the performance of the C-GRIP habitat delivery program.The monitoring objective is to evaluate whether or not the C-GRIP program is effective in providing a relative increase in the density (number/acre) of priority grassland bird species in focal delivery areas versus control areas over a 10-year period.Monitoring commenced in 2022.A total of 21 Loggerhead Shrikes were detected in 2022, 14 on treatment survey routes and 7 on control routes.In 2023, 16 Loggerhead Shrikes were detected, 10 on treatment survey routes and 6 on control routes.GCJV staff plan on conducting surveys on these routes through 2032.