Guest feature | Larger birds get the tree: Space use of Yellow Warblers in Mexican agricultural fields

Neotropical landbirds spend up to 8 months of the year at wintering sites in Mexico or Central and South America. As during the breeding season, many species compete for and defend territories during this time. Western Mexico hosts the highest diversity and density of wintering migrants in the Americas, resulting in strong competition for wintering sites. Birds that are unable to acquire a high-quality territory... Read More

JFO Education | How long will it take to get my manuscript back? (Trilingual post)

How long will it take to get my manuscript back? We know that the process of publishing an article can be long and tedious. At JFO we attempt to shed light onto this process for our authors. In this article we present a general overview of the reviewing process of your article... and try to explain why sometimes it feels like it takes too long to get sent back to you. Read More

Ornithological Council bimonthly news brief: Sep-Oct 2024

The Ornithological Council’s mission is to: Over the last two months, Ornithological Council staff: 1. Met with the APHIS staff, including representatives of the Animal Products Import and Export  Program, to discuss recent research on the viability of avian influenza and Newcastle Disease viruses on dried ornithological specimens and its impact on USDA treatment methods for […] Read More

AFO grants & awards | Presenting the 2024 recipients of our largest grant, the Skutch Keystone Grant

|The Association of Field Ornithologists has a fellowship program aimed at supporting field researchers at all stages of their careers, including non-professional ornithologists. The Skutch Keystone Grant is the largest grant within this program. Every year we award one or two of up to $15,000 to research projects that study the life histories (especially social […] Read More

AFO grants & awards | Meet the 2024 Skutch Research Grants recipients!

We are proud to present the winners of the 2024 Skutch Research Grants! The Association of Field Ornithologists has a fellowship program aimed at supporting field researchers at all stages of their careers, including non-professional ornithologists. Formerly the Bergstrom Grants for Latin America (a mid-year round of the Bergstrom Grants), the Skutch Research Grants are […] Read More

The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird

As someone who works in the realm of Bald Eagle conservation, I found Jack Davis's book, "The Bald Eagle," to be an inspiring reminder of the tremendous efforts made to save this iconic symbol of America from the brink of extinction. The author engages readers with a wealth of information on the Bald Eagle's biology, behavior, and ecology. From their nesting habits to their hunting prowess, Davis paints a vivid picture of these incredible birds, fostering a deep appreciation for their place in the natural world. Read More

Guest feature | A canopy net for Cameroon’s rainforest hornbills

Fruit-eating birds of tropical canopies are often large, garish, and loud, but just out of reach for ornithologists. In 1993, my advisor, Dr. Tom Smith, trekked through the rainforests of southern Cameroon with Baka and Badwe’e forest guides hoping to learn more about the movement patterns and diet of hornbills—large, fruit-eating birds thought to be keystone seed dispersers of Central African rainforests. Read More

Guest feature | Bird Banding in central Argentina: the first effort to establish aging criteria using molt patterns and plumages

Scientific bird banding has been paramount for the development of ornithological research. In North America and Europe, the implementation of this standardized methodology in longstanding monitoring efforts (constant-effort bird banding stations) has provided deep insights into basic life-history aspects of bird species. In contrast, the southern region of the Neotropics historically lacked such efforts. This has delayed... Read More