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Lesser Yellowlegs “JE” takes flight along the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Photo credit: USFWS/Zak Pohlen.

Probability of occurrence in harvest regions is greatest for eastern-breeding Lesser Yellowlegs

Linked paper: Eastern-breeding Lesser Yellowlegs are more likely than western-breeding birds to visit areas with high shorebird hunting during southward migration by Laura A. McDuffie, Katherine S. Christie, Autumn-Lynn Harrison, Audrey R. Taylor, Brad A. Andres, Benoit Laliberté, James A. Johnson. Ornithological Applications. By Laura McDuffie Typically, when people think of shorebirds, they envision plump, …

An adult Egyptian Vulture equipped with a GPS transmitter. Photo by Boaz Amidror.

Release of captive-bred Egyptian Vultures to save the species — is it working?

By Ron Efrat Linked Paper: Postrelease survival of captive-bred Egyptian Vultures is similar to that of wild-hatched Egyptian Vultures and is not affected by release age or season by Ron Efrat, Ohad Hatzofe, Ygal Miller, Thomas Mueller, Nir Sapir, and Oded Berger-Tal. Ornithological Applications. Conservation projects are often lengthy processes that can be difficult to …

Photo of Anna's hummingbird feeding mid-flight
Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) feeding mid-flight on a manzanita species (Genus Arctostaphylos) in California, USA. Credit: Jerome Gaw (@CAScrubJay on Twitter)

Advances in Avian Diet: Methods and Applications

By Sabrina S. Taylor, Senior Editor, Ornithology Studying avian diet has never been easy, but several methodological advances have enabled novel insights, collectively sparking a renewed interest and vigor in avian diet studies. Accordingly, three recent NAOC and AOS symposia reflect this interest and have highlighted ways that traditional, genetic, and tracer approaches can be …

A random selection of Common Murre eggs from Skomer Island. Photo © J.E. Thompson and T.R. Birkhead. Used with permission.

Distinctive egg color variations in Common Murres

By T. R. Birkhead Linked paper: Exceptional variation in the appearance of Common Murre eggs reveals their potential as identity signals by Tim R. Birkhead; Jamie E. Thompson; Amelia R. Cox; Robert D. Montgomerie. Ornithology. Few birds lay such spectacular eggs as the Common Murre (Uria aalge; Common Guillemot in Europe). Almost every book on …

eleven individual photos of different colorful songbird species
Eleven species of Neotropical migrants. Photos by Nick Bayly.

Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day in the Americas

By Catherine Lindell, Editor-in-Chief, Ornithological Applications In honor of World Migratory Bird Day in the Americas on 9 October, we draw attention to some of the articles and blog posts about migratory birds that have been published in the AOS journal, Ornithological Applications (formerly, The Condor), the journal Ornitología Neotropical, and on AOS’s Wing Beat …

Blackpoll warbler sitting on a branch in a tree
Blackpoll Warbler, Guajira Peninsula, Colombia. Photo by Nick Bayly.

So much to eat, so little time: A rapid refueling stop on arrival in South America is key to epic migration of the Blackpoll Warbler

By Nicholas J. Bayly Linked paper: Rapid recovery by fat- and muscle-depleted Blackpoll Warblers following trans-oceanic migration is driven by time-minimization by Nicholas J. Bayly, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, D. Ryan Norris, Philip D. Taylor, and Keith A. Hobson. Ornithology. For scientists and bird watchers alike, when we think about epic migratory journeys, the Blackpoll Warbler …

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

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 …

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 …

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

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, …

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 …