Category: Member Research
Guest feature | Post-fledging ecology of endangered Golden-cheeked Warblers
Ever since I was a child I’ve had a passion for wildlife conservation, especially endangered species. It was almost too good to be true, then, when I started my thesis work on an endangered avian species that was endemic to Texas, the Golden-cheeked Warbler. The University of Illinois provided this research connection in collaboration with the Fort Hood Military Installation, which holds one of the largest Golden-cheeked Warbler populations... Read More
Guest feature | Song dialects of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Many bird species, like humans, have distinct regional dialects. A New Yorker may refer to a midday meal as “lunch”, but in the south that meal is “dinner”. Likewise, the song of a Common Yellowthroat in the east may sound very different from one in the west... Read More
Guest feature | Cryptic migration in a common feeder bird shows it’s a great era for avian natural history
With all of the incredible revelations in ornithology during the 21st century, it’s easy for a young birder who wants to “discover new things about birds” to feel like they’re late to the scene. But upon getting deeper into field ornithology, it becomes readily apparent how much basic life history of North American birds remains […] Read More
Guest feature | Documenting the ecology of Cerulean Warblers in the understudied Ozark region
Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) are a Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbird species in decline. During the breeding season, Cerulean Warblers nest in deciduous forests of the eastern United States and Canada. Over about the last twenty years, much research has focused on improving our knowledge of the biology of this species to inform conservation and reverse this decline. Read More
AFO grants & awards | Bergstrom Award helps Ph.D. student with research on threatened grassland birds in Argentina
When I was awarded my Ph.D. grant I was filled with excitement and joy as I would be able to study some of the most iconic bird species of northeastern Argentina’s vast grasslands: the Strange-tailed Tyrant (Alectrurus risora), the Black-and-white Monjita (Xolmis dominicanus), the Tawny-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila hypoxantha), and the recently described Iberá Seedeater (S. iberaensis). Read More