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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 …

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, …

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 …

molting-male-hooded-warbler
A tailless molting male Hooded Warbler photographed on 23 August 2019 near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Warblers in this molt stage are typically replacing 50–67% of their 48 flight feathers simultaneously, including all 12 rectrices of the tail and 6–10 of the 18 remiges on each wing. Warblers in high-intensity molt usually skulk in thick vegetation, fly poorly and reluctantly, and are infrequently seen or photographed. Photo by Mary Parker Sonis.

High-intensity Flight Feather Molt: A Cryptic but Critical Phase of the Annual Cycle of Migratory Warblers

By Ronald L. Mumme Linked paper: High-intensity flight feather molt and comparative molt ecology of warblers of eastern North America, by Ronald L. Mumme, Robert S. Mulvihill, David Norman, Ornithology. …