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

AFO meetings | AFO-SCO-WOS 2024 joint meeting recap

Welcome! Between July 29 and August 1, 2024, AFO held its annual meeting jointly with its sister societies, the Wilson Ornithological Society and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists in Peoria, Illinois. Nothing like three full days of fabulous research, learning, and camaraderie to unite and strengthen our ornithological community! Plenaries and talks Each date began with […] Read More

AFO grants & awards | 2024 Bergstrom Grants recipients!

We are proud to present the winners of the Bergstrom Grants 2024! Did you know? The Association of Field Ornithologists has a fellowship program aimed at supporting field researchers at all stages of their careers, including non-professional ornithologists. Recently, AFO undertook a reorganization of its fellowship program. A mid-year round of the Bergstrom Grants was […] Read More

AFO news | Upcoming event on ornithology careers outside academia

On October 22 at 4 pm EDT, the Wilson Ornithological Society and the Association of Field Ornithologists will be hosting the first of a series of quarterly virtual events for grad students and early professionals members of either society. The inaugural event, a panel discussion on “Careers in Ornithology and Avian Conservation Outside the Academy” moderated by WOS 2nd Vice President Auriel Fournier... Read More

AFO grants & awards | Grass Wrens in the Uspallata Valley: notes from a Bergstrom Award recipient

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

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