In Montana, the loon breeding range is primarily restricted to low elevation glacial lakes in the northwest corner of the state. Successful nesting requires both nesting sites and nursery areas. Conservation concerns include: disturbances to loon nesting and foraging lakes by human activities such as boating or angling; loss of connectivity within Montana’s populations as well as with other western populations; and loss of nesting habitat due to development, water level alterations and recreation. Conservation strategies include: implementing a territorial ranking system to identify priority nesting lakes; connecting population demographics and trend information for breeding sites and migratory routes; maintaining the suitability of currently used nesting territories; and creating site-specifi c management plans.

The breeding range of trumpeter swans in Montana is restricted to southwest Montana and along the Rocky Mountain Front. The nonbreeding range is limited to Beaverhead, Gallatin, and Madison counties. Habitat in Montana includes lakes, ponds and adjacent marshes containing suffi cient vegetation and nesting locations. Conservation concerns include: isolation of breeding populations; wetland degradation and destruction; and lack of information on breeding success. Conservation strategies include: protecting known nesting habitat and managing nesting habitat in a manner compatible with increasing swan production and connectivity between populations; restoring wetland; and continuing surveying and monitoring of populations.

The Harlequin duck range is found mainly in northwestern Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Harlequin ducks inhabit fast moving, low gradient, clear mountain streams. Conservation concerns include: range and forest management practices; human disturbance during breeding season; and water pollution on headwater streams utilized for nesting, brood rearing and prey base. Conservation strategies include: managing grazing to preserve riparian vegetation and streambank stability; decreasing human disturbance such as boating, hiking and camping during breeding season; and working with cooperators and public to identify and reduce point source pollution in headwater streams.

The majority of eagles are found in western Montana, although breeding pairs may be found along major rivers and lakes including the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers through prairie lands. The bald eagle is primarily a species of riparian and lacustrine habitats, especially during the breeding season. Conservation concerns include: maintaining forest stands for nesting, roosting and foraging; sensitivity to human disturbance particularly to fl edglings; and contaminants (lead, residual pesticides). Conservation strategies include: monitoring and surveying for breeding pairs and locations of nests; minimizing disturbance during nesting season; and enforcing regulations addressing pollution in waterways.

Distribution of greater sage-grouse includes the eastern one-half and southwest corner of Montana. Greater sage-grouse require the naturally occurring patchwork of sagebrush communities to meet survival and reproduction needs. Conservation concerns include: conversion of native sagebrush grassland to cropland, nonnative pasture or residential development; fragmentation of sagebrush grasslands (e.g., structural developments, roads, urban sprawl); and vulnerability to West Nile virus. Conservation strategies include: promoting conservation of intact sagebrush grasslands through incentives and easements; utilizing local cooperators to expand greater sage-grouse conservation; quantifying impacts of energy development; and continuing funding and research on associations between West Nile virus and greater sage-grouse populations.

In Montana, there are two known populations, the Tobacco Valley near Eureka, and the Blackfoot Valley, near Helmville. Columbia sharp-tailed grouse are associated with prairie and sagebrush grasslands. Conservation concerns include: isolated and extremely small populations; human disturbance to leks; and conversion of native grassland communities to agriculture. Conservation strategies include: increasing abundance and distribution by reintroduction program into northwest Montana that include the development of a captive rearing program; protecting known lek areas and the surrounding habitats and search for new leks; and cooperating and communicating with land managers and land owners in managing habitat, to include British Columbia.

The Yellow Rail is thought to occur regularly in the northeastern corner of the state and is rare elsewhere. However there are fewer than 20 known observations in the state. Breeding habitat selection consists of wet sedge (Carex spp.) meadows and other wetlands containing grasses, rushes (Juncus spp.) and bulrushes (Scirpus spp). Conservation concerns include: little known information in Montana; human disturbance of wetland habitats; and water level manipulation at nesting locations. Conservation strategies include: increasing surveying and monitoring projects; conserving wetlands; and managing reservoirs and dammed rivers in a manner that mimics more natural seasonal fl uctuations.

For the past 20 years, whooping cranes have been observed in northeast Montana, with limited sightings at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (a reintroduction effort to establish a population at Grays Lake, Idaho, which no longer exists). The whooping crane has been observed in the marsh habitat at Medicine Lake and Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuges. Conservation concerns include: habitat degradation and fragmentation to native prairies; human disturbance to nesting locations; and human misidentifi cation as sandhill cranes during hunting season. Conservation strategies include: conserving habitat in northeast Montana (outside Medicine Lake NWR); prohibiting public access to breeding locations, including aircraft and a periodic census to evaluate productivity; and educating hunters.

The piping plover is generally a species of northern and northeastern Montana. It is known to breed in wetland areas throughout this region. Piping plovers primarily select un-vegetated sand or pebble beaches on shorelines or islands in freshwater and saline wetlands for nesting. Conservation concerns include: destruction and degradation of summer and winter habitat; shoreline erosion; human disturbances of nesting and foraging birds; and predation. Conservation strategies include: protecting as much existing native prairie as feasible, primarily by conservation easements; restoring drained wetlands; increasing nesting substrate when it appears to be a limiting factor affecting use of wetlands; avoiding oil and gas development near wetlands; and directing predator management.

Primary breeding habitat of the mountain plover is found in north-central Montana in Phillips, Blaine, and northern Fergus and Petroleum counties. Habitat use in Montana appears similar to other areas within the breeding range. Use of prairie dog colonies and other short-grass prairie sites are confi rmed as preferred breeding habitat. Conservation concerns include: invasive non-native plant species; habitat loss of short-grass prairies due to conversion to cropland; and decreases in prairie dog colonies. Conservation strategies include: controlling shrub and noxious weed encroachment at known and potential breeding sites; protecting existing native grassland from conversion to cropland; and continuing to manage and potentially enhance prairie dog colonies.