Migratory Birds
Migratory Birds
Filter Total Items: 135
Boater Compliance with Established Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas on the Upper Mississippi River
Disturbance to resting and feeding waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) is of utmost concern to refuge managers. Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas (VWAA) have been established to reduce boating disturbance to migratory waterfowl on Navigation Pools 7 and 8 of the Upper Mississippi River. Ongoing boater compliance with the VWAA programs has been...
Species Distributional Modeling and Spatial Patterns in Genetic Introgression: the Case of Golden-winged Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers
The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a species of considerable conservation concern in North America, primarily due to widespread population declines attributable to habitat loss (Confer et al. 1992, Buehler et al. ) and displacement by the Blue-winged Warbler (V. pinus) in areas of sympatry (Gill 1980, 2004; Will 1986). Recent research highlighted an important mechanism in the...
Evaluating Habitat Use by Pelagic Birds on the Western Great Lakes, and Airspace Use of Migrant Songbirds Near and Over the Western Great Lakes.
This assessment deals with a select geographic area, the Upper Great Lakes, and the common birds that can be found there during migration periods. Much is known about potential landbird stopover habitats and raptor migration routes, and a great deal of GIS data is available to develop preliminary risk models for landbirds. However, the distribution, abundance and species composition of waterbirds...
Monitoring migration of American woodcock past Cape May, NJ
The American woodcock is a popular game bird in much of eastern North America. The woodcock population declined between 1968- 2000 at an annual rate of 2.3% in the Eastern region and 1.6% in the Central region. The annual migration of woodcock from the breeding grounds to their wintering areas has been of interest to biologists and hunters. Migration corridors along the Atlantic coast, such as...
Response of Avian Community to Forest Management on Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge
The Challenge: Research goals focus on measurement of direct effects of various habitat management techniques for game species on neotropical migratory birds. Analyses are ongoing to determine if avian species richness, diversity, and relative abundance of land birds has changed at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge as a result of habitat management; determine if the structure of the avian...
Birds as Indicators of Contaminant Exposure in the Great Lakes
Objectives: 1. Use tree swallows and colonial waterbirds in the Great Lakes to evaluate contaminant Exposure (geographic and spatial) 2. Trends through time (temporal) 3. Effects (reproductive, physiological, genetic) 4. Monitor cleanup actions
North American Amphibian Monitoring Program
The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) was a collaborative citizen science effort between the US Geological Survey (USGS) and 26 partners (state agencies, universities, and nonprofit organizations) for monitoring calling amphibian populations over much of the eastern and central United States. Initiated in 1997, in response to needs set forth by the Declining Amphibian Populations...
Response of Migrating Birds to Hurricane Sandy
The Challenge: Each autumn, millions of landbirds migrate southward from breeding areas in the U.S. and Canada. Because these migrations occur during hurricane season, the impacts of hurricanes on migrating birds and their en route resting and foraging sites (stopover sites) are a real concern. Hurricane Sandy occurred late in the landbird migration season. By the time the storm made landfall in...
Nocturnal Bird Migration through the Central Appalachians
The Challenge: Concerns have arisen about the potential impacts of wind power development in the Appalachians on migrating birds, creating a critical need for information on their distribution and flight characteristics as they pass through the region. This study focuses on the spatial and temporal distribution of nocturnally migrating birds in the Central Appalachians (MD, VA, WV). The overall...
Radar Analysis of Fall Migration Stopover Sites in the Northeastern U.S.
The Challenge: Most landbird conservation efforts focus on protecting or enhancing breeding habitat. For migratory species, however, mortality is highest during the biannual migration periods. In fall, juvenile birds are making their first migratory flights; their success, and that of adult birds, depends on availability of suitable sites to safely rest and forage. Identifying important stopover...
Migration and Habitat Use by Seabirds in the Atlantic Flyway: Evaluation of Potential Impacts of Proposed Wind Farms
Overall, this study tracked movements of over 400 individuals of three species over the course of five years; one of the most comprehensive satellite tracking studies of marine birds ever conducted in Atlantic North America. Results provide a better understanding of how diving birds use offshore areas of the mid-Atlantic U.S. and beyond, and, in combination with results from other types of...
Vulnerability Assessment of Available Habitat for Wintering Black Ducks within the Refuge System in the Chesapeake Bay
American black duck ( Anas rubripes ) utilize inland and tidal freshwater and brackish marshes throughout the Chesapeake Bay and are considered to be an indicator species of the ecosystem’s health. Thus, conserving and increasing black duck habitats will subsequently benefit the general health of the bay. The goal of this study was to create a mechanistic model to determine the amount of...