Month: June 2021

Grass Wrens in the Uspallata Valley: notes from a Bergstrom Award recipient

Grass Wrens in the Uspallata Valley: notes from a Bergstrom Award recipient

Posted on by Milagros Jefferies
I studied the Grass Wren in the Uspallata Valley, Mendoza, Argentina, at the foothills of the magnificent Central Andes Mountains. A beautiful setting where there are grassland patches associated with riverbeds in which the Grass Wrens breed and reside all year round. The development of my PhD thesis involved fieldwork during four months and three breeding seasons... Read More
Measuring the value of oil palm plantations versus native forest as habitat for Neotropical migratory birds in Mexico

Measuring the value of oil palm plantations versus native forest as habitat for Neotropical migratory birds in Mexico

Posted on by Samuel Lopes Oliveira
I came to Michigan Technological University from southern Brazil in the Fall of 2017 to start my Ph.D. in the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Once in Michigan, I was introduced to a diverse community of neotropical migrant songbirds that were rarely seen in my home country of Brazil. Although different species, I was familiar with some closely related South American birds within the same genus as those found in Michigan, such as warblers (Setophaga) and vireos (Vireo). Read More
Mid-summer arrival by Blue Grosbeaks at the northern extent of their breeding range: evidence for dual breeding?

Mid-summer arrival by Blue Grosbeaks at the northern extent of their breeding range: evidence for dual breeding?

Posted on by David Swanson
On my morning running route through farmland with shrubby field borders in southeastern South Dakota, I noticed that Blue Grosbeaks often first showed up in the area on approximately July 1st. This arrival pattern seemed odd and different from arrival patterns of typical migrants in this habitat, such as Dickcissel, Indigo Bunting, Field Sparrow and Orchard Oriole... Read More
Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska-breeding Whimbrels

Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska-breeding Whimbrels

Posted on by Chris Harwood
In February 2008 my boss offered me the chance to “spring out” at our U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administrative cabin on Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge in north-central Alaska. Having visited the cabin occasionally for brief summer stints in my previous five years with the Refuge, I had not been there in the boreal spring to observe the many changes during this special season... Read More