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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 …

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

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.

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 …

Species Limits and Taxonomy in Birds

How we determine what entities we call species has major impacts on ornithology at many levels; the units used in every field of scientific research and that are the focus of conservation and legislative planning are the result of this data-driven process. Once species limits are decided, the scientific and English names that we use …

wood-thrush-dummy
To simulate the presence of Wood Thrush at unused forest sites in southern Indiana, we placed a hand-painted dummy on top of a speaker box that broadcast Wood Thrush songs in the pre-breeding and post-breeding periods. To our surprise, we found no evidence that these simulation treatments attracted settlers. Photo by Jonathon J. Valente.

Management of breeding birds using conspecific attraction requires better knowledge of when, where, and why it is likely to be effective

By Christa L. LeGrande-Rolls and Jonathon J. Valente Linked paper: Conspecific attraction for conservation and management of terrestrial breeding birds: Current knowledge and future research directions by Jonathon J. Valente, Christa L. LeGrande-Rolls, James W. Rivers, Anna M. Tucker, Richard A. Fischer, and Matthew G. Betts, Ornithological Applications In 2012, we were working on a …

Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day!

World Migratory Bird Day and Global Big Day are this Saturday, 8 May! We hope you’ll join us in this global celebration to raise awareness about the importance of conserving migratory birds and their habitats. We’ve pulled together a few Wing Beat posts from this past year that highlight research findings from migration-related papers that …