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1 October 2019

Membership renewal opens

14 October 2019

Senior Professional, Early Professional, AOS Service, and Katma Award nominations open

Officers and Elective Councilor nominations open

Fellow & Elective Member nominations open

29 November 2019

Officers and Elective Councilor nominations close

Fellows & Elective Member nominations close

1 December 2019

Student & Postdoc Research Award applications open

13 December 2019

Senior Professional, Early Professional, AOS Service, and Katma Award nominations close

31 December 2019

Student Membership Award applications close

24 January 2020

Student & Postdoc Research Award applications close

10–15 August 2020

NAOC 2020

    From the field

    Hummingbird hybrids? Yes! This photos is of an Allen's Hummingbird x Rufous Hummingbird hybrid, captured near Happy Camp, California. Researchers recently identified a previously unknown hybrid zone where the two species overlap in northern California and southern Oregon, and their findings were published this week in The Auk: Ornithological Advances. Scientists hope that studying hybridization between the two species could yield new insights about how biodiversity is created and maintained. Read the press release at the link in our profile! Photo by Brian Myers. #ornithology #wildlife #science #birds #conservation #hummingbirds #nature #animalsWhy are mallards sometimes called the Research recently published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that these two spectacular, closely related hummingbird species occupying the same habitat in the Andes — the Blue-throated Starfrontlet (Coeligena helianthea) and the Golden-bellied Starfrontlet (C. bonapartei) — may be an example of speciation with gene flow, where one species splits into two despite ongoing interbreeding between the two diverging groups. #ornithology #science #wildlife #birds #hummingbirds #nature #animalsI also use small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS, aka drones) in my work in conservation as well as in work for the electric industry unrelated to conservation. Drones can cause much less disturbance than traditional methods when checking the nests of raptors. Drones can also be used to install line markers to reduce avian collisions, to inspect nests for entanglement hazards, or to quantify wildlife. I even get to fly drones in high voltage environments where a person would be killed if they entered! It's been fun taking over the AOS Instagram account this week — if you have questions about my work, you can reach me at jdwyer@edmlink.com! #birds #ornithology #science #conservation #wildlife #drones #powerlines . A big thank you to #AOSMember James Dwyer for his posts this week! If you're an AOS member and would like to be featured here, please send us a message.The Avian Collision Avoidance System (ACAS), which I posted about earlier this week, is just one way of addressing avian collisions with power lines. Other methods involve “line marking,” which uses attachments on wires to increase line visibility. Unfortunately, these methods are not as reliable as we would like. In the attached photos, a Green-winged Teal in Colorado, a sparrow in Colorado, a sparrow in Wyoming, a warbler in California, and a Ring-billed Gull in California illustrate the range of species and habitats where collisions occur. #ornithology #birds #science #wildlife #conservation #powerlines . [Thank you to #AOSMember James Dwyer, who's taking over our account this week — keep following along!]Avian electrocutions can be prevented. Electrocutions can cause power outages, damage expensive equipment, start wildfires, and violate state and federal conservation laws. I tend to emphasize the first three concerns when working with utilities because unplanned outages, equipment replacement, and wildfire controls or restitution can be used in sound business cases for investing in avian electrocution mitigation regardless of the political climate. In the attached photos, an electrocuted Black-billed Magpie in Idaho (burned feet), Common Raven in California (burned beak), Bald Eagle in Colorado (burned neck and back), and Great Horned Owl in Arizona (burned wing) illustrate the range of species and habitats where electrocutions occur. All photos by me. #ornithology #birds #conservation #science #wildlife . [Thank you to #AOSMember James Dwyer, who's taking over our account this week — keep following along!]I’ve had great opportunities to work in avian conservation internationally in Africa, Canada, the Dominican Republic, the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Hungary, and Spain. In these photos, a Griffon Vulture in South Africa feeds in front of a power line (out of image frame) where numerous vultures have been electrocuted, a Ridgeway’s Hawk in the Dominican Republic jumps through the air gap around a power line to land on a conductor cover installed to prevent avian electrocutions, and an electrocuted Common Buzzard and Griffon Vulture can be seen on pylons. All photos by me. #ornithology #birds #science #conservation #wildlife #raptors #birdsofprey #powerlines . [Thank you to #AOSMember James Dwyer, who's taking over our account this week — keep following along!]
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