Revised draft for Commission consideration STATE OF WASHINGTON January 2021 Status Report for the Oregon Vesper Sparrow Bob Altman, Derek W. Stinson, and Gerald E. Hayes Washington Department of FISH AND WILDLIFE Wildlife Program The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains a list of endangered, threatened, and sensitive species (Washington Administrative Codes 220-610-010 and 220-200-100). In 1990, the Washington Wildlife Commission adopted listing procedures developed by a group of citizens, interest groups, and state and federal agencies (Washington Administrative Code 220-610-110). These procedures include how species listings will be initiated, criteria for listing and delisting, a requirement for public review, the development of recovery or management plans, and the periodic review of listed species. The first step in the process is to develop a preliminary species status report. The report includes a review of information relevant to the species’ status in Washington and addresses factors affecting its status. The procedures then provide for a 90-day public review opportunity for interested parties to submit new scientific data relevant to the draft status report and classification recommendation. At the close of the comment period, the Department incorporates new information and prepares the final status report and listing recommendation for presentation to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The final report and recommendations are then released for public review 30 days prior to the Commission presentation. This revised draft status report for the Oregon Vesper Sparrow was reviewed by species experts and was available for a 90-day public comment period from 19 May to 17 August 2020. All comments received were considered during the preparation of this revised draft. The Department intends to present the results of this periodic status review to the Fish and Wildlife Commission for action at the meeting on 29 January 2021. This report should be cited as: Altman, B., D.W. Stinson, and G.E. Hayes. 2020. Revised Draft Status Report for the Oregon Vesper Sparrow in Washington. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington. 33+ iii pp On the cover: photo of Oregon Vesper Sparrow by Matt Lee; background photo of 13th Division Prairie in May 2019 by Karla Kelly; inside cover page sparrow from photo by Matt Lee. This work was supported in part by personalized and endangered species license plates Status Report for the Oregon Vesper Sparrow in Washington Bob Altman American Bird Conservancy 311 NE Mistletoe Corvallis, OR 97330 Derek W. Stinson and Gerald E. Hayes Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Program P.O. Box 43141 Olympia, WA 98504-3200 January 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................ ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... iii DESCRIPTION, TAXONOMY, AND LEGAL STATUS ........................................................................... 1 DISTRIBUTION ........................................................................................................................................... 2 NATURAL HISTORY ................................................................................................................................. 3 POPULATION STATUS ............................................................................................................................. 6 Washington: historical populations ............................................................................................................... 7 Washington: current population status .......................................................................................................... 7 HABITAT STATUS ................................................................................................................................... 11 FACTORS AFFECTING CONTINUED EXISTENCE ............................................................................. 13 MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................. 18 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................................................................ 19 LITERATURE CITed ................................................................................................................................. 20 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS .......................................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX A. Recent records and data sources for Oregon Vesper Sparrows in Washington and British Columbia. ......................................................................................................................... 29 APPENDIX A. PUBLIC COMMENTS. .................................................................................................... 33 Washington State Status Reports, Periodic Status Reviews, Recovery Plans, and Conservation Plans ............................................................................................................................................ 35 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1. Oregon Vesper Sparrow. ............................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2. Historical and current breeding locations in Washington and British Columbia, and miscellaneous records . .................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3. Oregon Vesper Sparrow records on and near Joint Base Lewis McChord. .................................. 9 Table 1. Oregon Vesper Sparrow breeding population estimates in Washington. .................................... 11 Figure 4. Locations of recent and historical breeding season (May-July) records of Vesper Sparrows in western Washington and southwestern British Columbia . ...................................................... 29 Table 2. Oregon Vesper Sparrow records from known recently or historically occupied breeding locations (Fig. 4) in western Washington and soutwestern British Columbia, Canada. .............. 30 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thanks to Gary Slater, Adrian Wolf, and Karla Kelly, CNLM who provided significant unpublished recent data on Oregon Vesper Sparrow in Washington. Recent unpublished data were also made available from Jaime Stephens of Klamath Bird Observatory. Peer review that greatly improved the draft was kindly provided by Gary Slater, Jaime Stephens, and Joe Liebezeit. Additional comments were provided by Kevin White, Nancy Lee, Hannah Anderson and Eric Gardner. Funding for the preparation of this periodic status review came from Washington background license plates for endangered wildlife and Washington personalized license plates. January 2021 ii Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Oregon Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus affinus), a subspecies of the widespread Vesper Sparrow, had an historical breeding range of southwestern British Columbia, western Washington, western Oregon and extreme northwestern California. Historical accounts suggest it was locally uncommon to abundant in the disjunct distribution of grassland and savannah habitat in western Washington. It has experienced range-wide population declines and range contractions, and many local extirpations. In Washington, this includes 20th century extirpations from Vashon Island of the north Puget lowlands, and the Dungeness area of the Olympic Peninsula; and extirpation from San Juan Island appears likely. Approximately 90% of the population occurs in the south Puget lowlands, predominantly on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The current range-wide population estimate is <3,000 birds with approximately 300 of those occurring in Washington. The Oregon Vesper Sparrow was petitioned for listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act in October 2017. In June 2018, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that it may be warranted for listing and initiated a 12-month status review. It has been a candidate for state listing in Washington since 1998. Oregon Vesper Sparrows are present in western Washington primarily from early April through late September, and they migrate to winter in central and southern California. They feed on a wide variety of insects during the breeding season supplemented with seeds during migration and winter. They are a ground-nesting bird that matures to breed in one year and maintains monogamous pair bonds. They will re- nest after failures and can produce two broods in one year. They exhibit relatively high annual site fidelity to nesting areas and defend small territories during the breeding season. Oregon Vesper Sparrow breeding habitats in Washington include herbaceous-dominated, open upland landscapes such as prairie and savannahs, pastures, airfields, Christmas tree farms, and vegetated dredged- material sites. Within these habitat types, desired habitat conditions can be characterized as moderately short and structurally diverse grass and forb cover with some patchy bare ground and sparsely vegetated areas, low to moderate shrub or tall forb cover, and low tree cover. Historical population declines were likely the consequence of the extensive loss of prairie and savannah habitats.