Guest feature | Threats to waterbird nests: identifying nest failures and daily survival rates for three endemic Hawaiian waterbirds

Hawaiʻi is home to many endemic bird species. Yet, most picture the rainforest with the colorful assemblage of honeycreepers, not realizing that waterbirds, too, have a unique place in the Hawaiian Islands. The endemic Hawaiian waterbirds include rails, ducks, geese, herons, ibises, and stilts. Unfortunately, many species went extinct after the arrival of humans, but […] Read More

Guest feature | How an Instagram post sparked my Master’s thesis: from curiosity to conservation

I never imagined that a simple Instagram post would ignite the spark for my Master's thesis research. But in 2021, that’s exactly what happened. While scrolling, I came across a photo shared by the National Audubon Society. It showed a man spreading bright orange goop on a rock, with a caption explaining that this unusual tactic was being used to reduce predation on ground-nesting shorebirds in New Zealand. Read More

AFO news | AFO celebrates 2024

We have just closed off an exciting year, full of activities and achievements. None of this would have been possible without the continuous support of our members, for which we are beyond grateful! Take a look at our year in numbers. Let’s celebrate everything we accomplished in 2024! Events: This year we organized our annual meeting with two sister societies, the Wilson Ornithological Society... Read More

JFO Education | Good practices for authors and reviewers (Trilingual post)

This post belongs to a new section called “JFO Education”, created by the Journal of Field Ornithology‘s co-Editors-in-Chief Mark Hauber and Rafael Rueda Hernández. This series of posts and articles aim to bring little-discussed publication-related issues to light and find solutions together with the research community. Challenges, solutions and suggested good practices for authors and […] Read More

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

AFO news | Flocks Project moving forward

The Flocks Team attended American Ornithological Society’s (AOS’s) 2024 Annual Meeting in Estes Park (for more information about the Flocks project, you can read this press release) to meet with ornithologists interested in founding affinity groups. An affinity group—what we are calling Flocks—is a network or community established around a shared identity, topic, or interest. At AOS 2024 our team also […] 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