Occurrence of the long-tailed cuckoo Eudynamis taitensis on Caroline Atoll, Kiribati
No abstract available.
Caroline Atoll↗
Geology topics
Cameron B. Kepler
Publications and source records attributed to Cameron B. Kepler.
The conservation management of Kirtland's warbler Dendroica kirtlandii
Kirtland's Warbler Dendroica kirtlandii breeds in young jack pine Pinus banksiana forests on sandy soils in Michigan's lower peninsula, where there were 502 censused singing males in 1951 and 167 in 1974 and 1987. An ongoing control programme for the Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater , a nest parasite, resulted in immediate and continued improvement in warbler reproductive success which was not, however, matched by an increase in warbler numbers until the 1990s. From three 1,000 ha reserves in the 1960s, currently over 54,000 ha are managed for the warbler. Despite the establishment of managed plantations, over 70% of warblers censused in the past 15 years have occupied habitat created by wildfires. Optimal habitat consists of more than 5,000 trees per hectare in a mosaic of dense patches interspersed with small openings. Nearly 70% of adult and 30% of juvenile warblers departing for the Bahamian wintering grounds return each spring, and the Michigan singing male population increased from 212 (1989) to 397 (1992) as abundant habitat, resulting from a 1980 wildfire, became available at Mack Lake. This suggests that lack of optimal habitat in Michigan has been the species's major problem.
Bird Conservation International↗
Puerto Rican parrots and potential limitations of the metapopulation approach to species conservation
Population viability analyses for a number of endangered species have incorporated a metapopulation approach. The risk assessments of these viability analyses have indicated that some extant populations should be subdivided into numerous subgroups with exchange of individuals among them in order to reduce the chance of catastrophic loss of the species. However, routine application of a policy of extensive subdivision may have detrimental consequences for certain endangered species. We examine the Puerto Rican Parrot as a case history in which this policy is ill-advised. In 1989, a population viability analysis was conducted for the parrot. The document recommended subdivision of the existing small captive flock into three groups. One of these captive flocks would consist of individuals transferred to a multi-species facility in the continental United States. Subsequently, individuals from this facility would be exchanged with the insular captive population(s) and the relict wild flock. For two reasons, implementation of this recommendation might have led to serious repercussions. First, this parrot, like many endangered species, has gone through a genetic bottleneck and may have a heightened susceptibility to disease. Multi-species facilities are a high-risk environment favoring the transmission of pathogens, especially when the facilities are located outside the natural ranges of a particular species. Second, the parrot is a K-selected species for which mate selection is idiosyncratic. This type of species often proves difficult to breed in captivity in small groups. Part of the problem in mate selection may be reduced by a policy allowing frequent transfers of individuals among facilities, but such movements increase the chances of spreading disease in the metapopulation. Thus, population viability analyses need to acknowledge that proliferation of captive subgroups accompanied by exchanges of individuals can in themselves carry substantial risks that must be weighed against the presumed benefits of subdivision.
Puerto Rico↗
Status and nesting of the yellow-billed cuckoo in Puerto Rico
Knowledge of the status of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo ( Coccyzus americanus ) in the Greater Antilles has been clouded by the bird's elusive behavior and spotty distribution on the islands, and by a major movement of North American migrants through the area to and from their wintering grounds in South America. Although Bond (1956) states that they breed in the Greater Antilles, nests are known only from Cuba, St. Croix (Bond 1956), and Jamaica (Lack 1976), and Bond considered the bird rare in Puerto Rico. Other students of Puerto Rican ornithology have suggested that the species is "uncommon" (Leopold 1963), "rare" (McCandless 1958), or a regular migrant or resident species (Wetmore 1916). Although no nests have been reported, most authors suspect that it breeds, and agree that it frequents coastal areas in western or southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily from May to September (Wetmore 1916, Danforth 1936, McCandless 1958, Leopold 1963, Biaggi 1970). From 1968 to 1971 we conducted linear strip censuses along pre-selected routes throughout the island, counting all birds heard or seen (Kepler and Kepler 1970); data we obtained on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo helped clarify and amplify existing information on its distribution and status.
The Auk↗