ZO 501 Ornithology 2012

 

Ted Simons Jessica Stocking Tracy Borneman

Instructor: Ted Simons

Office: 226-A David Clark Labs
tsimons@ncsu.edu
515-2689

Office Hours: 10-11 M, W

TA: Jessica Stocking

Office: 219 David Clark Labs
jjstocki@ncsu.edu

Office Hours: 2-3 Th

TA: Tracy Borneman

Office: 219 David Clark Labs
tebornem@ncsu.edu

Office Hours: 2-3 Th


What's New:

4/19/12:

Good news from Bermuda! The Cahow at record numbers:
http://www.conservation.bm/news-hot-topics/2012/3/23/cahow-population-reaches-101-pairs-for-the-first-time-since.html


4/16/12:

Lauren E. Seay: Double Bass Recital

When: Saturday, April 28th, 3:00PM
Where: Price Music Center (the building directly to the left of Talley Student Center)

Everyone is invited to my final music minor recital!  Feel free to bring friends along, too.  This should be a neat event because it is rare to see solo performances on the double bass!  I would love to have you all there.


4/16/12:

The passing of a Mentor - Tom Quay

Many of you longtime North Carolina birders have known Dr. Tom Quay for many years - he began his birding career here in 1938, with the likes of T. Gilbert Pearson and the Brimley Brothers. Tom participated in every Raleigh CBC, excepting those when he was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII, until he was 92 years old. Tom was a long-time Professor of Ornithology at NCSU and mentored many of us there. He died this morning in bed in Raleigh at age 97. Tom had a great life with a great many friends, and he will be remembered, no doubt, with a spate of stories shared among them. Memorial arrangements are still being made, likely for later in the week.

John Connors Coordinator of the Naturalist Center North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 11 West Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27601-1029


4/16/12:

FROM: Ian

Host-Parasite Arms Races and Rapid Changes in Bird Egg Appearance

Coevolutionary arms races are a powerful force driving evolution, adaptation, and diversification. They can generate phenotypic polymorphisms that render it harder for a coevolving parasite or predator to exploit any one individual of a given species. In birds, egg polymorphisms should be an effective defense against mimetic brood parasites and are extreme in the African tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava) and its parasite, the cuckoo finch (Anomalospiza imberbis). Here we use models of avian visual perception to analyze the appearance of prinia and cuckoo finch eggs from the same location over 40 years. We show that the two interacting populations have experienced rapid changes in egg traits. Egg colors of both species have diversified over time, expanding into avian color space as expected under negative frequency-dependent selection. Egg pattern showed signatures of both frequency-dependent and directional selection in different traits, which appeared to be evolving independently of one another. Host and parasite appear to be closely tracking one another’s evolution, since parasites showed closer color mimicry of contemporaneous hosts. This correlational evidence suggests that hosts and parasites are locked in an ongoing arms race in egg appearance, driven by constant change in the selective advantage of different phenotypes, and that coevolutionary arms races can generate remarkably rapid phenotypic change.

Host-Parasite Arms Races and Rapid Changes in Bird Egg Appearance Claire N. Spottiswoode and Martin Stevens The American Naturalist Vol. 179, No. 5 (May 2012) (pp. 633-648).

4/5/12:

FROM:
Center for Conservation Biology, College of William and Mary – Virginia Commonwealth University

The Nature Conservancy, Virginia Chapter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5 April, 2012

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dr. Bryan D. Watts, Director
bdwatt@wm.edu
(757) 221-2247 office
(757) 272-4492 cell

Fletcher M. Smith, Biologist
fmsmit@wm.edu
(757) 221-1617 office
(757) 678-6915
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary
Virginia Commonwealth University

Barry Truitt, Chief Conservation Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
Virginia Coast Reserve Program
btruitt@tnc.org
(757) 442-3049


Hope returns to Virginia

(Williamsburg, VA)---Hope, a whimbrel carrying a satellite transmitter, has returned to the Eastern Shore of Virginia after spending the winter on St. Croix in the U.S. Virginia Islands. The bird has been tracked by a team of researchers through her migratory travels since she was captured on Box Tree Creek in Northampton County, Virginia on 19 May, 2009. Since that time she has traveled more than 44,100 miles (71,000 kilometers) back and forth 3 times between breeding grounds on the MacKenzie River in western Canada and Great Pond Important Bird Area on St. Croix. She likely left Great Pond on the evening of April 1st and arrived in Virginia on the morning of April 4th, covering the 1600 miles in approximately 60 hours. She had been wintering on Great Pond since September 14, 2011.

Hope has taught the research community a great deal about the migratory pathways and habits of whimbrels. She has made tremendous nonstop flights, moved great distances out over the open Atlantic, confronted storms while at sea, navigated with precision to stopover sites and shown high fidelity to her breeding site, her wintering site, and several staging areas. Hope is one of more than a dozen birds that have been tracked in a collaborative effort between The Center for Conservation Biology, The Nature Conservancy and other partners designed to discover migratory routes that connect breeding and winter areas and to identify en route migratory staging areas that are critical to the conservation of this declining species.

Updated tracking maps may be viewed online:
http://www.ccb-wm.org/programs/migration/Whimbrel/whimbrel.htm


Hope at Great Pond on 9 January, 2012. Photo by Lisa Yntema.


Map of Hope movements (2009-2012)

 

4/4/12:

Check out this peregrine nest cam: http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/nestcamSF.htm


3/29/12:

FIELD ASSISTANT(S)

at Wildlife Conservation Society

Website:
http://www.wcs.org/adirondacks

Location:
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Duration:
between May 15 and August 15, 2012

Job Type:
Temporary

Application Deadline:
04/15/2012

Job Description:
Field assistant(s) for breeding bird project, stipend and housing available – Impacts to Wildlife from the Ecological Consequences of Exurban Development in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Yellowstone Program works to promote healthy human communities and wildlife conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem through an information-based and cooperative approach to research, community involvement, and outreach. WCS is seeking 2 experienced birders to help with a research project examining effects of residential development on breeding bird communities in the GYE. Current students are encouraged to apply. Job Description: Field assistants will conduct surveys of local bird communities using both standard point counts and nest searching methods. Ten-minute point count surveys will be conducted within local subdivisions and control areas to assist in collecting abundance and distribution data for all species of passerines detected. Assistants will also conduct nest searches and nest status monitoring for a limited set of target species including American robin, Brewer’s sparrow, and vesper sparrow (these targets are subject to change). In addition to bird work, assistant will collect additional data at study site locations including traditional habitat sampling but also including sampling of human disturbance/activity variables. This will include data collection for levels and types of anthropogenic activities, as well as assistance with acoustic and light monitoring and operation of camera traps. These positions will require 12-13 weeks of full time field work; housing is available. This position will pay $4,500 for the field season. It may be possible to obtain institutional credit for undergraduate applicants.

To Apply:
We will fill these positions as soon as we find qualified candidates. Please send, e-mail, or fax resume and letter of interest by April 15th to: MICHALE GLENNON, Wildlife Conservation Society, 7 Brandy Brook Ave. #204, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 (PH: 518-891-8872, FX: 518-891-8875, EM: mglennon AT wcs.org).

Qualifications:
Self-motivated, professional, able to work independently in remote locations. Birding skills and knowledge of western passerines by sight and sound is required. Hiking, navigation, and GPS experience preferred. Some weekend and overnight work may be required. Travel around the GYE required; own transportation is necessary, travel costs will be reimbursed. Potential technicians must be available between May 15 and August 15, 2012.

3/21/12:

From the American Bird Conservancy:

Endangered Hawai'i premiers at DC Environmental Film Festival, March 24.

100 Years Later, Endangered Millerbirds Breed Once Again on Laysan Island

3/21/12:

Shiloh Autumn Schulte

PhD Seminar – Zoology

Friday, March 23, 2012 – 1:30 PM
101 David Clark Labs

“Ecology and Population Dynamics of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus)”

Abstract: Coastal ecosystems are under increasing pressure from multiple sources, including human activity, introduced species, and effects of climate change. American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) are large shorebirds that are strictly tied to the temperate coastal zone throughout the year.  We studied the reproductive and migratory ecology, and population dynamics of American Oystercatchers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We took an information-theoretic approach to the analysis of factors affecting the survival of American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) nests and broods. Model results indicate direct access to foraging sites has a positive effect on brood survival; while off road vehicles have a negative effect.  We also compared alternative models to find the best explanation for changes in nest survival in relation to periodic hurricane events. Nesting success increased from 20%, to 80% on Cape Lookout National Seashore after Hurricane Isabel crossed the island in 2003.  We compared nest survival in open flat and vegetated dune habitats and measured the extent of habitat change after Hurricane Isabel. We found that when overall nest survival was high or low there was no observed effect of habitat on nest survival.  At intermediate predator levels nests on open flats survived at a higher rate than nests placed in dunes.  Periodic years with elevated nest survival can help compensate for low annual productivity and may be important for the growth and stability of Oystercatcher populations. We used these data to develop a set of demographic population models to assess the effects of periodic hurricanes on population growth.  Our results show that hurricane frequency affects population growth and suggest that American Oystercatcher nesting and territory acquisition strategies may have been shaped by periodic hurricanes which improve habitat, and reduce predator populations. We quantified Oystercatcher migration patterns, site fidelity, and data gaps through an analysis of eight years of range-wide mark-recapture data. We found that migration strategy varied with latitude. Northern breeders tend to bypass mid-Atlantic wintering sites and concentrate in southern wintering sites, notably the West coast of Florida. Oystercatchers display strong site fidelity to both breeding and wintering sites, with approximately 90% returning to the same sites annually. Coordinated ongoing breeding season resight surveys combined with periodic winter surveys would allow us to track spatial and temporal changes in survival, recruitment, reproductive success, and migratory patterns.

Committee chair: Dr. Ted R. Simons

Committee members: Drs. Jaime A. Collazo, Kenneth H. Pollock, James F. Gilliam

3/11/12:

The grebe filming volunteer position mentioned this morning in class.

3/11/12:

Don't forget that this Saturday (March 17th) is our trip to the North Carolina Zoo! There's a write-up worth 25 extra credit points, lots of class-only behind-the-scenes opportunities, and chances to talk to keepers and zoo professionals. (Plus, who doesn't want a chauffered trip to the zoo?!) We'll be leaving from the usual spot at 7:30am. Download this aviary guide for some of the birds we'll see.

3/9/12:

Today's Science article about the origin of iridescent feathers. And the popular article about the same finding (thanks to Mary Mack).

3/8/12:

Seabirds of the Cay Sal Bank, The Bahamas, May 25-June 1, 2012. See flyer and note below. (I don't know if the Harkema Award application window is still open for Biology students, but this would be a great reason to apply!)

Dear biologists,

I have been studying the biology and conservation of Caribbean seabirds since my days as a graduate student at UNC working with Haven Wiley and as an adjunct professor at Elon. I hope you might have students or friends who would be interested in taking part in the expedition described in this brochure.

My colleague, Lisa Eggert of Biodiversity Research Institute, and I are running a seabird research trip to the Cay Sal Bank with an ecotourism component. We want to run similar trips in future years to get population data and develop ecotourism to these and other remote seabird colonies in the Bahamas.  We are selling a limited number of seats on this trip. I hope you will pass this information to any students or naturalists you know who would want to take part.

The trip involves sailing several hundred miles southe from Freeport, Grand Bahama to some of the most remote islands in the Caribbean region. I think it would be a tremendous opportunity for anyone, but especially for an undergraduate or early graduate student interested in conservation and population biology, to experience this trip. They would be helping to band and take blood and feather samples from birds at some really beautiful, rugged islands.

We have a strong slate of seabird biologists going on this trip including David Wingate, David Lee, and Sonny Bass. Few scientists have ever set foot on these islands, and none of the cays are inhabited by people. I had the opportunity to go to the Bank in 2010 after the Horizon Oil Spill.  The unspoiled quality of the islands and the lagoon blew the team of scientists away. Thankfully, the Bank was not immediately affected by the oil spill. I was determined to get back again with a team of seabird experts to help document what is there.  

The goal of this expedition is to obtain good estimates of the shearwater and tern populations. I believe that there are more Audubon’s Shearwaters and Bridled Terns on this remote bank than in the rest of the Caribbean combined; there are also tens of thousands of Sooty Terns, Brown Noddies, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Roseate Terns, Least Terns, and Laughing Gulls. It seems to be an important migratory stopover point as well, with wetlands that provide good habitat for most shorebird species. We will be using randomly placed plots, kite-cameras flown above smaller colonies, and feather and blood samples to learn more about the size and status of the populations. Participants would be working with the scientists as much as they would like and to snorkel and explore the islands as well.

We will also be sailing through excellent pelagic birdwatching areas for 30 hours each way, which would be a great way to experience pelagic birds with experts who know how to identify them.

Sincerely,

Will Mackin

3/5/12:

Become an Osprey Watcher: Connect with a global community of observers

The Center for Conservation Biology has launched Osprey-Watch, a project
created to engage a global community to collect data on breeding osprey.
Linked by an interest in osprey and a concern for the health of the aquatic
environments on which they rely, this community will for the first time
provide a global perspective on this charismatic species.  The mission of
Osprey-Watch is to bring citizen scientists together in order to collect
information  on a large enough spatial scale to be useful in addressing
three of the most pressing issues facing aquatic ecosystems including global
climate change, depletion of fish stocks, and environmental contaminants.

Osprey are one of very few truly global sentinels for aquatic health.  They
feed almost exclusively on live fish throughout their entire life cycle.
They are a top consumer within aquatic ecosystems and are very sensitive to
both overfishing and environmental contaminants.  Nearly all populations
breed in the northern latitudes and winter in the southern latitudes,
effectively linking the aquatic health of the hemispheres.  Their breeding
season in the north is highly seasonal making them an effective barometer of
climate change.

Osprey-Watch is a user-friendly, internet platform that allows observers
across the globe to map their nests, log observations, upload photos, and
interact within an observer forum.  Information entered into the platform
will be immediately accessible to users and will be summarized following the
breeding season.

To join a growing community of global citizens, please visit
http://www.osprey-watch.org and become an Osprey-Watcher.


Michael Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary & Virginia Commonwealth University P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone: 757-221-1649
fax: 757-221-1650
email: mdwils@wm.edu
http://www.osprey-watch.org


3/2/12:

If anyone has been putting off getting binoculars (or other supplies) and would like a $10 Nikon coupon, we have one in the office. Good for things at nikonhunting.com and nikonbirding.com. First to come pick it up can have it - coupon expires 5/1.


2/29/12:

We are looking for someone to work at Cape Lookout this summer with the American Oystercatcher project. Let us know if you're interested.

Also, some pictures from the coastal trip on the Photos page. Thanks to Natalie for sharing!


2/27/12:

Nick Flanders let us know about a female Western Tanager hanging out at a private residence in Durham, off Stagville Rd. The home-owner is friendly to birders coming to see the bird, but there are a couple little caveats, like calling ahead, etc. Nick will give you more info; contact him if you're interested: npflande@ncsu.edu


2/21/12:

Check out this podcast about a "bilingual" sparrow. Auditioning for reclassification to Mimidae or Parulidae? Thanks to Megan for the link!

ALSO: see Dr. Pollock's pictures of our weekend venture and our full species list


2/20/12:

Someone else's picture of razorbills from this weekend (easier to see than in the scope).


2/20/12:

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Observe and count the birds in your "backyard" (literally or the general area) and submit your observations online. It runs from 17-20 Feb 2012, so today's the last day to participate. Check out the website for more info: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

From the website: "The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds."

2/20/12:

Many of you are probably thinking about summer employment or internship opportunities or jobs for after you graduate!

Here are a few premiere online locations for searching for bird and other wildlife jobs:


2/16/12:

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Surveys - volunteer opportunity:

The Wildlife Resource Commission is having its annual Red-cockaded Woodpecker surveys from the 5-7 of March at Sandhills Gamelands and could use as many sets of eyes as they can get. This is a good opportunity to meet local wildlife professionals working with North Carolin's state agency as well as become familiar with one of the Southeasts most threatened habitats.
Surveys consist of transects through long-leaf pine habitat searching for Red-cockaded Woodpecker nesting cavities. No experience is necessary.

If you are interested contact:
Brady Beck for details: brady.beck@ncwildlife.org


2/8/12:

Here is the article discrediting the long-standing belief about the relationship between the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) and the Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis). Thanks to Ian for finding and sharing this!

ALSO!

Here's a posting from a recent UNC trip to the Outer Banks, giving us an idea of some things to look for when we're there. (Have you ever seen a razorbill? Look it up - they're pretty cool. A few years ago, Jessica got to witness this release of an injured bird.)

Highlights included 16 Razorbills (2 at Oregon Inlet, 10 from Pea Island Visitor's Center, and 4 from Rodanthe pier), great looks at 3 Ipswich sparrows at Oregon Inlet, ~100,000 cormorants flying directly overhead near Cape Point towards Hatteras Inlet (100 per second for 16 minutes!), and a Peregrine with a recently snatched Belted Kingfisher in its talons flying by near Pea Island's South Pond.


2/7/12:

Check out these new animated occurrence maps! It's amazing what a time series visualization can do for understanding range and use. (Beats trying to keep track of the purple, orange, blue and whatever that fourth color is on the range maps in the books...) Here's to citizen science!!!


2/1/12:

Albatross articles referenced in Monday's lecture:from one egg and climate change

Though perhaps not "new" (the blog's from 2010 and the specimen is from 1939), still interesting; an example of the calamities those bird bill adaptations can get them into: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/07/clam_kills_oystercatcher.php


1/31/12:

A little humor for the day:

"All birds look like sparrows to me. There are big sparrows, small sparrows and gaily colored sparrows. But they all look like sparrows. Last summer I realized this was a know-nothing attitude, so I bought two bird books. They were filled with every conceivable kind of sparrow." 
- Andy Rooney


1/30/12:

SCIENCE   | January 24, 2012
Mercury's Harmful Reach Has Grown, Study Suggests
By ANTHONY DePALMA
Dangerously high levels have been detected in Northeastern songbirds as the most toxic form of the heavy metal moves through the food chain.


1/25/12

DO NOT COLLECT BIRD NESTS! Anyone who read the post put up yesterday about research collecting old bird nests, there was a misunderstanding, only persons with the required permits can collect bird nests. So, please do not collect any nests.

This is an excellent lesson in making sure you know all laws and required permitting when designing and implementing a study!

If you have questions, contact:
Jason P. Love
Coweeta LTER Site Manager
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources University of Georgia
Coweeta Hydrologic Lab
3160 Coweeta Lab Rd
Otto, NC 28763
828.524.2128 x113 (office)
828.369.6768 (fax)

Just FYI if anyone is interested in what the project was supposed to be, here's the description of the study:

Robert Warren, a post-doc ecologist with the Coweeta LTER program, and Jason Love, Coweeta LTER Site Manager, need volunteers to help them collect old bird nests (last year's nests) both
in the southern Appalachians and Piedmont of GA, NC, TN, and SC.  They are
interested in seeing if nesting material might be providing pathways for
invasion by exotic plants.  For instance, birds might be using invasive
exotic plants, such as Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) as
nesting material.  If this material still has seeds attached, the seeds
could drop from the nest, causing new invasive exotics to sprout.

Having volunteer "citizen scientists" will help them not only collect more
nests, but also cover a larger geographic area.  In a greenhouse experiment,
they will "plant" these nests to see what sprouts.

Collections will take place over two months, and will BEGIN Feb 1, 2012 (giving time for the seeds to stratify in the cold weather) and end April 1, 2012 (before new nest
building begins in earnest - please don't collect active nests).  Only nests
in "edge" habitat should be collected (not open fields or deep forest).
Nests should be brought directly to the Coweeta Hydrologic Lab and kept in a
freezer until they can be transported or mailed.  The provided protocol sheet gives
further instructions.

1/23/12:

Bird Friendly Building Design


1/22/12:

Ornithologists study rare plumage with the help of the public: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9014881/Ornithologists-seek-to-answer-riddle-of-white-blackbirds-and-pink-sparrows.html


1/20/12:

These are a few photos that a 15-year-old in Virginia took of an "albino" hummingbird. Quite a spectacle!

hummer3 hummer2 hummer1


1/13/12:

The eagle nest that we'll be visiting in February just hatched! One chick hatched yesterday and one today.

Check out the live stream video of the nest at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jordan-lake-eaglecam.

You can also read a description of this project at: http://www.basic.ncsu.edu/eaglecam/.


1/11/12:

Wildlife Internships in the Smoky Mountains


1/9/12:

Check out the amazing, life-sized prints by J.J. Audubon, whose goal was to paint every bird in America. Displayed at the North Carolina Art Museum. The exhibit is free to the public. http://ncartmuseum.org/exhibitions/audubon/

A murmuration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k

NC Partners in Flight newsletter


1/1/12:

Welcome to Ornithology 2012. The first day of class is Monday 9 January. We meet in Room 102 David Clark Labs from 9:10 - 10:00 AM.

 

 

 

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