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Point Blue Avian Ecologist Mark Dettling, Bird Survey in Pinnacles National Monument. Photo by Megan Elrod/Point Blue
Guest Posts

Do protected areas work? Long-term monitoring shows protected areas safeguard bird populations and support federal and state mandates

By Point Blue Conservation Science Linked paper: Protected areas safeguard landbird populations in central coastal California: evidence from long-term population trends by Mark D. Dettling, Kristen E. Dybala, Diana L. Humple, and Thomas Gardali, Ornithological Applications. Federal and state mandates to conserve 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030 are intended to protect …

Guest Posts

Ostrich evolution revealed: Fossil finds shed new light on the evolution of the African ratite

By Gerald Mayr, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt Linked paper: Extinct crane-like birds (Eogruidae and Ergilornithidae) from the Cenozoic of Central Asia are indeed ostrich precursors by Gerald Mayr & Nikita Zelenkov, Ornithology. Until now, the early evolutionary history of ostriches was largely unknown. Together with my colleague Nikita Zelenkov from …

Awards & Grants

Congratulations to our 2021 AOS Award winners!

Each year, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) presents a range of awards honoring members for their ornithological research and their service to the society. The work of the 2021 awardees ranges across the spectrum of ornithological science, from genetics to conservation to ecology, and includes invaluable service to AOS and ornithology. This year’s awardees represent the broad diversity of our members and the contributions they are making to the scientific study and conservation of birds.

Boreal forest canopy. Photo by Brett W. Benz.
Boreal forest from one of the study sites. Photo by Brett W. Benz.
Guest Posts

Variation in migration phenology of boreal breeding birds is linked to evolutionary adaptations for long-distance migration

By Ben Winger Linked paper: Migration distance is a fundamental axis of the slow-fast continuum of life history in boreal birds by Benjamin M. Winger and Teresa M. Pegan, Ornithology Recently, it occurred to me that the anticipation and excitement of my first spring migration—experienced more than twenty years ago—continues to inspire my research today, …

News

In with the Old, Out with the Mew

Keep your checklists handy because the 62nd Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds, publishing today in Ornithology, includes numerous updates to the classification of the continent’s bird species. A few highlights from this year’s supplement, detailed below, include species splits for Mew Gull, Barred Owl, and Sedge Wren, among quite …

Guest Posts

On the road to trans inclusivity in publishing at the American Ornithological Society

By Catherine Lindell, Editor-in-Chief, Ornithological Applications The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is striving to become welcoming and inclusive of all members of our community. The Committee on Publication Ethics or COPE has resources to help us on this journey. COPE “provides leadership in thinking on publication ethics, practical resources to educate and support members, and …

photo of waved albatross flying along a shoreline above crashing waves
Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata). Photo by KP Huyvaert.
Guest Posts

AOS Celebrates World Albatross Day 2021

Tomorrow, Saturday, June 19, 2021 marks the second World Albatross Day, a day for celebrating and raising awareness about the ‘conservation crisis’ the world’s albatrosses and petrels are facing. With this year’s theme, Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries, organizers hope to bring awareness to one of the top threats to albatrosses and petrels: bycatch in fisheries.

News

Welcome to Our New Members of AOS Council!

We are excited to announce the winners of the 2021 AOS Council election! The Council is AOS’s governing body, made up of member volunteers who oversee the society’s strategic direction, policies, budget, and organizational planning.

photo of northern double-collared sunbird on a branch
Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Western) in Equatorial Guinea. Photo by Jacob C. Cooper.
Guest Posts

Solving the Mystery of the Genderu Sunbird

By Jacob C. Cooper Linked paper: Multiple lines of evidence indicate ongoing allopatric and parapatric diversification in an Afromontane sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi) by Jacob C. Cooper, J. Dylan Maddox, Kellie McKague, and John M. Bates, Ornithology Five years ago, as I was settling into my new life as a graduate student at the University of …

a photo of t subalaris - Eastern Slaty Thrush in a person's hand photo by Alex E Jahn
T. subalaris-Eastern Slaty Thrush. Photo by Alex E. Jahn, paper co-author.
Guest Posts

How will migratory birds in South America adapt to future climate change?

by Natália Stefanini Linked paper: Future climate change will impact the size and location of breeding and wintering areas of migratory thrushes in South America by Natália Stefanini Da Silveira, Maurício Humberto Vancine, Alex E. Jahn, Marco Aurélio Pizo, and Thadeu Sobral-Souza, Ornithological Applications  The answer to the question of how migratory birds in South …