Grassland Bird Research
Studying Grassland Bird Habitat
The objective of research done by Uihlein Foundation’s partners at Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) is to understand the impact of climate change on grassland bird habitats and to identify areas that can serve as climate refugia for these species. Refugia are areas that remain relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time and enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and sociocultural resources. The ultimate goal is to develop Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farms as models for grassland bird conservation that can be applied by other landowners in the Adirondacks.
The Foundation is proud to share the published reports from this work with you below.
2025 Heaven Hill
The 2025 field season represents the 7th year of collaborative work with the Henry Uihlein II and Mildred A. Uihlein Foundation focused on addressing grassland bird management at Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm. Since our partnership began, Foundation-supported research and monitoring have contributed substantially to our knowledge of grassland bird breeding ecology and guided targeted habitat enhancements and protective management actions.
—Michale Glennon, & Raymond Curran
2025 Uihlein Farm
The open landscapes at Uihlein Farm support habitat for grassland birds, one of the most imperiled avian groups in North America due to extensive habitat loss, fragmentation, and increasingly intensive agricultural practices on remaining farmlands. These fields present valuable opportunities for both long-term grassland bird conservation and education and outreach activities.
—Michale Glennon, Jesse Rock, Conor Vara, Alec Cimini & Raymond Curran
2024 Heaven Hill
“Grassland birds, including the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), remain among the most threatened bird groups, with some species having experienced population declines of 50% or more over the past five decades and projected to lose another half in the coming fifty years (North American Bird Conservation Initiative 2022). These alarming trends underscore the importance of the Foundation’s efforts to safeguard bobolink and other grassland species at both Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm.”
—Michale Glennon, Damien Thompson, & Raymond Curran
2024 Uihlein Farm
“In 2024, the Uihlein Foundation completed a land management plan which includes habitat management and enhancement goals pertaining to grasslands and grassland birds. Our work in the past few years has aimed to document wildlife and ecological characteristics at Uihlein Farm to provide a baseline of information for future management for grassland birds and other species. This report documents our activities at Uihlein Farm during the 2024 field season.”
—Michale Glennon, Damien Thompson & Raymond Curran
2023 Heaven Hill
“This year marked our 5th season of working with the Uihlein Foundation to address concerns related to grassland birds breeding at Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm. Since we started, the Foundation has undertaken critical efforts to increase our understanding of grassland bird breeding and behavior at both sites and to implement protection measures and habitat improvements.”
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, & Raymond Curran
2023 Uihlein Farm
“Summer of 2023 marked the 5th year of collaboration between the Uihlein Foundation and AWI to examine how grassland and other bird species respond to management practices in hay fields on these lands. The open characteristics of Uihlein Farm offer habitat for grassland birds, which are among the most imperiled birds on the continent, primarily as a result of long-term habitat loss and fragmentation combined with intensifying agricultural production on remaining farmlands. Our work has aimed to document wildlife and ecological characteristics at Uihlein Farm to provide a basis for future restoration and management of those lands.”
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, & Raymond Curran
2022 Heaven Hill
Grasslands in North America have experienced the biggest landbird declines in any habitat and the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is considered a Tipping Point species, one of a group of birds which have lost half or more of their populations in 50 years and are on a trajectory to lose another half in the next 50 (North American Bird Conservation Initiative 2022). Although the Adirondack Park is far outside of the historical core grasslands in North America, the plight of this and other grassland specialist species argues for the value of conservation actions aimed at their protection, at all scales and locations.
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, Stephanie Tyski, & Raymond Curran
2022 Uihlein Farm
“Summer of 2022 marked the 4th year of collaboration between the Uihlein Foundation and AWI to examine how grassland and other bird species respond to management practices in hay fields on Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm in Lake Placid, NY. These efforts are focused primarily on grassland specialist bird species including the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). These species depend on grassland habitat for successful breeding and are often found in hay meadows and pastures in the Northeast US in part due to the dearth of natural grassland habitat.”
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, Stephanie Tyski, & Raymond Curran
2021 Heaven Hill
“A recent report published by scientists across 7 institutions highlighted the alarming finding that, across the North American continent, 1 in 4 birds have been lost since 1970; a total of 2.9 billion (Rosenberg et al. 2019). Among them are 720 million grassland birds, a 53% population loss in this guild in the last 50 years. Native grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the Americas (Renfrew et al. 2019) and grassland birds such as bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) rely on these habitats in both the breeding and wintering season. Grassland habitats located in higher elevation, northern regions like Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm will become increasingly important for this and other grassland specialist species as these habitats decline more rapidly in areas to the south.”
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, Stephanie Tyski, & Raymond Curran
2021 Uihlein Farm
“In 2020, the Henry Uihlein II and Mildred A. Uihlein Foundation Trust (Uihlein Foundation) acquired a parcel of land totaling approximately 428 acres, previously donated to Cornell University and used for potato production and research until its transfer back to the Uihlein Foundation.Summer of 2021 marked the 3rd year of collaboration between the Uihlein Foundation and AWI to examine how bobolinks and other bird species respond to management practices in hay fields on Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm.”
—Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, Stephanie Tyski, & Raymond Curran
2020 Heaven Hill
“AWI has worked with the Uihlein Foundation since 2019 to address concerns related to breeding grassland birds at Heaven Hill…our work continued in 2020, with a specific focus on comparing findings with 2019 in terms of species and numbers of birds observed on the property, areas of highest activity, observed breeding behavior, and most likely nesting areas in order to inform ongoing efforts to address the needs of these birds at Heaven Hill and to assess any observed response to management.”
—Michale Glennon, Adelaide Balliett, McKenzie Kelly
2020 Uihlein Farm
“In 2020, the Uihlein Foundation acquired a parcel of land totaling approximately 428 acres, previously donated to Cornell University and used for potato production and research until its transfer back to the Foundation. This parcel, which we have often referred to as “the potato field,” was the subject of research by AWI, in partnership with the Uihlein Foundation, during summer 2020. The farm, provides an opportunity for future grassland bird conservation as well as a variety of education and interpretation activities…”
—Michale Glennon, Adelaide Balliett, McKenzie Kelly and Ray Curran
To learn more about the wildlife research done by Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute, click here.
*With special thanks to Larry Master for many of the spectacular bird photos throughout this site.