Grassland Birds

Long-term steep declines with several species at the tipping point

In America’s Heartland, more than 320 million acres of grasslands support people’s livelihoods, Indigenous cultures, and ecosystem functions. Yet this crucial biome is in collapse—and grassland birds are rapidly disappearing—due to conversion for row-crop agriculture, woody-plant invasion, and drought.

Collaborative grassroots conservation initiatives across the Midwest and Great Plains are leading proactive efforts to defend what’s left of America’s grasslands, and to restore millions of acres through strategic and coordinated conservation planning and delivery at landscape scales.

Grassland birds have had a 43% decline since 1970. Of 24 species, 7 are increasing, 13 are declining, and 4 are stable.

eBird Trends for Obligate Grassland Birds

Map showing trends for grassland bird species in areas of shortgrass, tallgrass, and mixed-grass prairie. Nearly all the area shows declining trends (red); with just a few areas of increasing trends (blue).
A composite map of eBird Trends for grassland birds shows declines across the Midwest.
LeConte’s Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Western Meadowlark, and Bobolink are species showing some of the largest declines. Baird’s Sparrow Andy Bankert / Macaulay Library.

  • Losing Grasslands by the Millions

    The Great Plains is losing grasslands at a rate of 1 to 2 million acres per year. Solutions—such as conservation easements, improved grazing practices, and inva­sive-plant removal—also improve groundwater, soil health, and economic resilience for farm communities.

  • Obligate Grassland Birds Are in Crisis

    More than half of bird species that depend on grasslands for breeding habitat are in steep decline. Grasslands contain eight Tipping Point species, more than any other terrestrial biome. Mountain Plover, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Baird’s Sparrow have declined more than 67% in the past 50 years.

  • A Roadmap to Creating More Grasslands

    The Central Grasslands Roadmap Initiative is an innovative coalition of landowners, government agencies, nonprofit groups, and Indigenous Nations. By catalyzing local, community-led actions guided by science, the initiative is targeting grass­lands conservation investments where they’re most likely to succeed.

Good Grazing for Birds and Herds

The National Audubon Society has rolled out two initiatives in the Great Plains to support working grasslands for birds—the Conservation Forage program, which restores marginal cropland back to grassland, and the Conservation Ranching program, which guides grazing practices to create a diverse mosaic of grasslands habitat.

More than 100 ranches have signed up to earn an Audubon Certified bird-friendly habitat designa­tion—adding up to nearly 3 million acres of restored working rangelands from Wisconsin to California.

On the certified Paul Ranch in North Dakota, Audubon biologists helped design a rotational graz­ing regimen that created a patchwork of mixed-grass habitat and spurred a 20% increase in the local Baird’s Sparrow population from 2017 to 2020.

A man in a cowboy hat stands in a grassy field with cows in the background.
The Paul Ranch has an Audubon bird-friendly habitat certification. Photo by Anthony Hauck.
List of Obligate Grassland Species

Baird’s Sparrow
Blue-winged Teal
Bobolink
Cassin’s Sparrow
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Dickcissel
Eastern Meadowlark
Ferruginous Hawk
Grasshopper Sparrow
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Henslow’s Sparrow
Lark Bunting
LeConte’s Sparrow
Long-billed Curlew
Mountain Plover
Northern Shoveler
Sedge Wren
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Sprague’s Pipit
Thick-billed Longspur
Upland Sandpiper
Vesper Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Wilson’s Phalarope