Lee Tibbitts
Shorebird ecology, population monitoring, waterbird conservation.
Professional Experience
1998 - Present Wildlife Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1988 - 1998 Biological Technician/General Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/ National Biological Service, Anchorage, Alaska
1981 - 1988 Various biotechnical positions, federal/ state wildlife agencies and universities, Oregon and Hawaii
Education and Certifications
M.S. 2000 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Wildlife Biology
B.S. 1982 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Biology
Affiliations and Memberships*
Wilson Ornithological Society
American Ornithologist's Union
Cooper Ornithological Society
Association of Field Ornithologists
Waterbird Society
Wader Study Group
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 19
Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Tundra Swans, a species that nests in coastal areas throughout Alaska and winters across a broad area of North America from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child I
Data from Bristle-Thighed Curlews at James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, O'ahu, Hawaii, 2012-2014
This data package includes two tables of data for Bristle-thighed curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) captured 2012-2014 on the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge O'ahu, Hawaii (21.68 N, 157.95 W). One table provides capture, banding, morphology, and genetic data. The second table provides mark-resight data for estimating the size of the wintering population on Oahu in April of 2014.
Tracking Data for Northern Pintails (Anas acuta)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Northern Pintails, a duck species that, in Alaska, nests throughout the state and in adjacent regions of Russia and Canada.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Da
Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Blue-winged Teal, a duck species that breeds throughout much of North America and whose wintering range includes neotropical areas of the Caribbean and Central and South America, thus providing a migratory link between the continents of North and South America.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (
Tracking Data for Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Marbled Godwits, a large-bodied shorebird that, in Alaska, nests in the southwestern portion of the state.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data f
Migratory Timing and Site Use of Marbled Godwits Breeding in Alaska, 2008-2015
This dataset contains migration timing and land-based location information from nine Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa beringiae) equipped with solar-powered satellite transmitters on breeding grounds near Ugashik, Alaska, in June of 2008. Transmitters were programmed with a duty cycle of 10 hr on and 48 hr off, yielding 10,858 locations (47-3,490 locations per bird, depending on the duration of each
Data for Montane-breeding Bird Distribution and Abundance across National Parks of Southwestern Alaska, 2004-2008
Observation data and model covariate data from breeding bird inventory conducted during May-June 2004 and 2008 primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers conducted 1,021 point counts along
Filter Total Items: 51
A red knot as a black swan: How a single bird shows navigational abilities during repeat crossings of the Greenland Icecap
Despite the wealth of studies on seasonal movements of birds between southern nonbreeding locations and High Arctic breeding locations, the key mechanisms of navigation during these migrations remain elusive. A flight along the shortest possible route between pairs of points on a sphere (‘orthodrome’) requires a bird to be able to assess its current location in relation to its migration goal and t
Authors
Eva Kok, T. Lee Tibbitts, David C. Douglas, Paul Howey, Anne Dekinga, Benjamin Gnep, Theunis Piersma
Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth
Birds often exhibit diagnostic traits that differ among individuals of the same species with regard to factors like sex, age, or breeding status. Shorebirds exhibit a wide diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes of their bills, and these traits are commonly used to determine the sex of individuals. In curlews (genus Numenius), length alone accurately separates the sexes in some species, but the sha
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Colleen M. Handel, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags
We used Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags to track migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva in 2017 and 2018 from Moorea Island, at the extreme southeastern edge of the species’ winter range. Of 20 tagged birds, 13 uploaded locations during all or part of their northward migration. The birds departed in mid-April traveling a long (8,250–10,200 km) northwestward track. Ten individuals signaled fro
Authors
Oscar W. Johnson, T. Lee Tibbitts, Michael F. Weber, David R. Bybee, Roger H. Goodwill, Andrea Bruner, Errika J. Smith, Emmalee L. Buss, Trinity Q.A. Waddell, Daxton Brooks, Carolyn Smith, Jean-Yves Meyer
Factors promoting the recolonization of Oahu, Hawaii, by Bristle-thighed Curlews
Suitable habitat for Arctic-breeding migratory shorebirds is decreasing at their traditional wintering islands and atolls in the Central Pacific Flyway (i.e., Oceania) due to habitat degradation, reclamation, and sea-level rise. To maintain the size and resiliency of their populations, migratory shorebirds will need to expand their winter ranges by either colonizing new sites or recolonizing old
Authors
T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Jared G. Underwood, Vijay P. Patil
Filling knowledge gaps in a threatened shorebird flyway through satellite tracking
Satellite‐based technologies that track individual animal movements enable the mapping of their spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence. This is particularly useful in poorly studied or remote regions where there is a need for the rapid gathering of relevant ecological knowledge to inform management actions. One such region is East Asia, where many intertidal habitats are being degraded at unp
Authors
Yin-Chi Chan, T. Lee Tibbitts, Tamar Lok, Chris Hassell, He-Bo Peng, Zhijun Ma, Zhengwang Zhang, Theunis Piersma
Shorebird subsistence harvest and indigenous knowledge in Alaska: Informing harvest assessment and management, and engaging users in shorebird conservation
Limited data on harvest and population parameters are major impediments to assess shorebird harvest sustainability. Because of sharp declines in shorebird populations, timely conservation efforts require approaches that account for uncertainty in harvest sustainability. We combined harvest assessment and ethnographic research to better understand shorebird conservation concerns related to subsiste
Authors
Naves. Liliana, Jacqueline Keating, T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well-described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull fecal samples longitudinally from four locations on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska to as
Authors
Christina Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Hanna Woksepp, Jorge Hernandez, John Reed, T. Lee Tibbitts, Björn Olsen, David C. Douglas, Andrew M. Ramey
Flexible timing of annual movements across consistently used sites by Marbled Godwits breeding in Alaska
The study of avian movement has detailed a spectrum of strategies for the timing and use of sites throughout the annual cycle, from near randomness to complete consistency. New tracking devices now permit the repeated tracking of individual animals throughout the annual cycle, detailing previously unappreciated levels of variation within migratory systems. Godwits (genus Limosa) have featured prom
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Survival of Bristle-thighed Curlews equipped with externally mounted transmitters
Telemetry devices are widely used in avian research, but the degree to which the deployment of such devices affects the survival of study subjects is often not addressed. It is generally assumed that such effects are less pronounced in large-bodied species that conduct relatively short migrations and carry relatively light telemetry devices. We studied Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Vijay P. Patil
Inventory of lowland-breeding birds on the Alaska Peninsula
We conducted the first systematic inventory of birds in the lowlands (areas ≤100 m above sea level) of the Alaska Peninsula during summers of 2004–2007 to determine their breeding distributions and habitat associations in this remote region. Using a stratified random survey design, we allocated sample plots by elevation and land cover with a preference for wetland cover types used by shorebirds, a
Authors
Susan E. Savage, T. Lee Tibbitts, Kristin Sesser, Robb S.A. Kaler
Fuelling conditions at staging sites can mitigate Arctic warming effects in a migratory bird
Under climate warming, migratory birds should align reproduction dates with advancing plant and arthropod phenology. To arrive on the breeding grounds earlier, migrants may speed up spring migration by curtailing the time spent en route, possibly at the cost of decreased survival rates. Based on a decades-long series of observations along an entire flyway, we show that when refuelling time is limi
Authors
Eldar Rakhimberdiev, Sjoerd Duijns, Julia Karagicheva, Cornelis J. Camphuysen, Anne Dekinga, Rob Dekker, Anatoly Gavrilov, Job ten Horn, Joop Jukema, Anatoly Saveliev, Mikhail Soloviev, T. Lee Tibbitts, Jan A. van Gils, Theunis Piersma, VRS Castricum
Montane-breeding bird distribution and abundance across national parks of southwestern Alaska
Between 2004 and 2008, biologists conducted an inventory of breeding birds during May–June primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers conducted 1,021 point counts along 169 transects within
Authors
Courtney L. Amundson, Colleen M. Handel, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 19
Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Tundra Swans, a species that nests in coastal areas throughout Alaska and winters across a broad area of North America from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child I
Data from Bristle-Thighed Curlews at James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, O'ahu, Hawaii, 2012-2014
This data package includes two tables of data for Bristle-thighed curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) captured 2012-2014 on the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge O'ahu, Hawaii (21.68 N, 157.95 W). One table provides capture, banding, morphology, and genetic data. The second table provides mark-resight data for estimating the size of the wintering population on Oahu in April of 2014.
Tracking Data for Northern Pintails (Anas acuta)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Northern Pintails, a duck species that, in Alaska, nests throughout the state and in adjacent regions of Russia and Canada.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Da
Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Blue-winged Teal, a duck species that breeds throughout much of North America and whose wintering range includes neotropical areas of the Caribbean and Central and South America, thus providing a migratory link between the continents of North and South America.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (
Tracking Data for Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa)
This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Marbled Godwits, a large-bodied shorebird that, in Alaska, nests in the southwestern portion of the state.
Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters.
Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data f
Migratory Timing and Site Use of Marbled Godwits Breeding in Alaska, 2008-2015
This dataset contains migration timing and land-based location information from nine Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa beringiae) equipped with solar-powered satellite transmitters on breeding grounds near Ugashik, Alaska, in June of 2008. Transmitters were programmed with a duty cycle of 10 hr on and 48 hr off, yielding 10,858 locations (47-3,490 locations per bird, depending on the duration of each
Data for Montane-breeding Bird Distribution and Abundance across National Parks of Southwestern Alaska, 2004-2008
Observation data and model covariate data from breeding bird inventory conducted during May-June 2004 and 2008 primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers conducted 1,021 point counts along
Filter Total Items: 51
A red knot as a black swan: How a single bird shows navigational abilities during repeat crossings of the Greenland Icecap
Despite the wealth of studies on seasonal movements of birds between southern nonbreeding locations and High Arctic breeding locations, the key mechanisms of navigation during these migrations remain elusive. A flight along the shortest possible route between pairs of points on a sphere (‘orthodrome’) requires a bird to be able to assess its current location in relation to its migration goal and t
Authors
Eva Kok, T. Lee Tibbitts, David C. Douglas, Paul Howey, Anne Dekinga, Benjamin Gnep, Theunis Piersma
Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth
Birds often exhibit diagnostic traits that differ among individuals of the same species with regard to factors like sex, age, or breeding status. Shorebirds exhibit a wide diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes of their bills, and these traits are commonly used to determine the sex of individuals. In curlews (genus Numenius), length alone accurately separates the sexes in some species, but the sha
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Colleen M. Handel, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags
We used Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags to track migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva in 2017 and 2018 from Moorea Island, at the extreme southeastern edge of the species’ winter range. Of 20 tagged birds, 13 uploaded locations during all or part of their northward migration. The birds departed in mid-April traveling a long (8,250–10,200 km) northwestward track. Ten individuals signaled fro
Authors
Oscar W. Johnson, T. Lee Tibbitts, Michael F. Weber, David R. Bybee, Roger H. Goodwill, Andrea Bruner, Errika J. Smith, Emmalee L. Buss, Trinity Q.A. Waddell, Daxton Brooks, Carolyn Smith, Jean-Yves Meyer
Factors promoting the recolonization of Oahu, Hawaii, by Bristle-thighed Curlews
Suitable habitat for Arctic-breeding migratory shorebirds is decreasing at their traditional wintering islands and atolls in the Central Pacific Flyway (i.e., Oceania) due to habitat degradation, reclamation, and sea-level rise. To maintain the size and resiliency of their populations, migratory shorebirds will need to expand their winter ranges by either colonizing new sites or recolonizing old
Authors
T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Jared G. Underwood, Vijay P. Patil
Filling knowledge gaps in a threatened shorebird flyway through satellite tracking
Satellite‐based technologies that track individual animal movements enable the mapping of their spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence. This is particularly useful in poorly studied or remote regions where there is a need for the rapid gathering of relevant ecological knowledge to inform management actions. One such region is East Asia, where many intertidal habitats are being degraded at unp
Authors
Yin-Chi Chan, T. Lee Tibbitts, Tamar Lok, Chris Hassell, He-Bo Peng, Zhijun Ma, Zhengwang Zhang, Theunis Piersma
Shorebird subsistence harvest and indigenous knowledge in Alaska: Informing harvest assessment and management, and engaging users in shorebird conservation
Limited data on harvest and population parameters are major impediments to assess shorebird harvest sustainability. Because of sharp declines in shorebird populations, timely conservation efforts require approaches that account for uncertainty in harvest sustainability. We combined harvest assessment and ethnographic research to better understand shorebird conservation concerns related to subsiste
Authors
Naves. Liliana, Jacqueline Keating, T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well-described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull fecal samples longitudinally from four locations on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska to as
Authors
Christina Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Hanna Woksepp, Jorge Hernandez, John Reed, T. Lee Tibbitts, Björn Olsen, David C. Douglas, Andrew M. Ramey
Flexible timing of annual movements across consistently used sites by Marbled Godwits breeding in Alaska
The study of avian movement has detailed a spectrum of strategies for the timing and use of sites throughout the annual cycle, from near randomness to complete consistency. New tracking devices now permit the repeated tracking of individual animals throughout the annual cycle, detailing previously unappreciated levels of variation within migratory systems. Godwits (genus Limosa) have featured prom
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Survival of Bristle-thighed Curlews equipped with externally mounted transmitters
Telemetry devices are widely used in avian research, but the degree to which the deployment of such devices affects the survival of study subjects is often not addressed. It is generally assumed that such effects are less pronounced in large-bodied species that conduct relatively short migrations and carry relatively light telemetry devices. We studied Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Vijay P. Patil
Inventory of lowland-breeding birds on the Alaska Peninsula
We conducted the first systematic inventory of birds in the lowlands (areas ≤100 m above sea level) of the Alaska Peninsula during summers of 2004–2007 to determine their breeding distributions and habitat associations in this remote region. Using a stratified random survey design, we allocated sample plots by elevation and land cover with a preference for wetland cover types used by shorebirds, a
Authors
Susan E. Savage, T. Lee Tibbitts, Kristin Sesser, Robb S.A. Kaler
Fuelling conditions at staging sites can mitigate Arctic warming effects in a migratory bird
Under climate warming, migratory birds should align reproduction dates with advancing plant and arthropod phenology. To arrive on the breeding grounds earlier, migrants may speed up spring migration by curtailing the time spent en route, possibly at the cost of decreased survival rates. Based on a decades-long series of observations along an entire flyway, we show that when refuelling time is limi
Authors
Eldar Rakhimberdiev, Sjoerd Duijns, Julia Karagicheva, Cornelis J. Camphuysen, Anne Dekinga, Rob Dekker, Anatoly Gavrilov, Job ten Horn, Joop Jukema, Anatoly Saveliev, Mikhail Soloviev, T. Lee Tibbitts, Jan A. van Gils, Theunis Piersma, VRS Castricum
Montane-breeding bird distribution and abundance across national parks of southwestern Alaska
Between 2004 and 2008, biologists conducted an inventory of breeding birds during May–June primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers conducted 1,021 point counts along 169 transects within
Authors
Courtney L. Amundson, Colleen M. Handel, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government