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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
USGS2004

Type C botulism in pelicans and other fish-eating birds at the Salton Sea

In 1996, type C avian botulism killed over 10,000 pelicans and nearly 10,000 other fish-eating birds at the Salton Sea in southern California. Although botulism had been previously documented in waterbirds at the Sea, this die-off was unusual in that it involved primarily fish-eating birds. The American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorynchos ) was the species with the greatest mortality in 1996. Since 1996, mortality has recurred every year but losses have declined (<2,000 birds/year), with relatively more Brown Pelicans ( P. occidentalis ) than White Pelicans afflicted. In 2000, morbidity and mortality of Brown Pelicans with type C botulism (1311) approached the numbers afflicted in 1996 (2034). In recent years, mortality reached a peak earlier in the summer, July and August, in contrast to 1996 when mortality reached a peak in September. An exotic fish species, tilapia ( Oreochromis mossambicus ), has been implicated as the source of toxin for birds at Salton Sea, but the source of toxin for fish is unknown.

California↗
USGS2025

A flexible framework for N-mixture occupancy models: Applications to breeding bird surveys

Estimating species abundance under imperfect detection is a key challenge in biodiversity conservation. The N -mixture model, widely recognized for its ability to distinguish between abundance and individual detection probability without marking individuals, is constrained by its stringent closure assumption, which leads to biased estimates when violated in real-world settings. To address this limitation, we propose an extended framework based on a development of the mixed Gamma-Poisson model, incorporating a community parameter that represents the proportion of individuals consistently present throughout the survey period. This flexible framework generalizes both the zero-inflated type occupancy model and the standard N -mixture model as special cases, corresponding to community parameter values of 0 and 1, respectively. The model’s effectiveness is validated through simulations and applications to real-world datasets, specifically with 5 species from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and 46 species from the Swiss Breeding Bird Survey, demonstrating its improved accuracy and adaptability in settings where strict closure may not hold.

Biometrics↗
USGS2006

A brief report on the illegal cage-bird trade in southern Florida: a potentially serious negative impact on the eastern population of Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Populations of Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) have been declining annually over the past 35 years. A cursory survey indicates that illegal trapping of Painted Buntings for a black market cage-bird trade is widespread in southeastern Florida. Coupled with other negative factors confronting the eastern population, the trapping of buntings for the cagebird trade may, in time, produce dire results for this native songbird. Law enforcement personnel need to continue to monitor the illegal activity of trapping native passerines for the local songbird market and to continue to arrest those who support it.

North American Birds↗
USGS2003

Response of vegetation and breeding birds to the removal of cattle on the San Pedro River, Arizona (U.S.A.)

In late 1987 cattle were removed from the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area ( NCA ) in southeastern Arizona ( U.S.A. ). We monitored vegetation density and abundance of birds during the breeding season during 1986a??1990 in riparian, mesquite grassland, and Chihuahuan desert-scrub communities in the NCA. The density of herbaceous vegetation increased four- to six-fold in riparian and mesquite grassland communities. Little change occurred in herbaceous vegetation in desert scrub, or in the density of shrubs or trees in any of the communities. Of 61 bird species for which sufficient data were collected, mean detections per kilometer increased for 42 species, 26 significantly, and decreased for 19 species, 8 significantly. The number of individuals of all avian species detected on surveys increased each year from 103/kilometer in 1986 to 221/kilometer in 1991, an average annual increase of 23% ( p < 0.001 ). The largest increases occurred in riparian species, open-cup nesters, Neotropical migrants, and insectivores. Species of the Chihuahuan desert-scrub, in which vegetation changed the least, showed the smallest increases. Only a few of the species showed increasing regional trends for the same period, as demonstrated by the North American Breeding Bird Survey; thus, increases on the San Pedro Riparian NCA were likely caused by the change in local conditions, not by regional effects. Our results suggest that removing cattle from riparian areas in the southwestern United States can have profound benefits for breeding birds.

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2004

A hierarchical spatial model of avian abundance with application to Cerulean Warblers

Surveys collecting count data are the primary means by which abundance is indexed for birds. These counts are confounded, however, by nuisance effects including observer effects and spatial correlation between counts. Current methods poorly accommodate both observer and spatial effects because modeling these spatially autocorrelated counts within a hierarchical framework is not practical using standard statistical approaches. We propose a Bayesian approach to this problem and provide as an example of its implementation a spatial model of predicted abundance for the Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) in the Prairie-Hardwood Transition of the upper midwestern United States. We used an overdispersed Poisson regression with fixed and random effects, fitted by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We used 21 years of North American Breeding Bird Survey counts as the response in a loglinear function of explanatory variables describing habitat, spatial relatedness, year effects, and observer effects. The model included a conditional autoregressive term representing potential correlation between adjacent route counts. Categories of explanatory habitat variables in the model included land cover composition and configuration, climate, terrain heterogeneity, and human influence. The inherent hierarchy in the model was from counts occurring, in part, as a function of observers within survey routes within years. We found that the percentage of forested wetlands, an index of wetness potential, and an interaction between mean annual precipitation and deciduous forest patch size best described Cerulean Warbler abundance. Based on a map of relative abundance derived from the posterior parameter estimates, we estimated that only 15% of the species' population occurred on federal land, necessitating active engagement of public landowners and state agencies in the conservation of the breeding habitat for this species. Models of this type can be applied to any data in which the response is counts, such as animal counts, activity (e.g.,nest) counts, or species richness. The most noteworthy practical application of this spatial modeling approach is the ability to map relative species abundance. The functional relationships that we elucidated for the Cerulean Warbler provide a basis for the development of management programs and may serve to focus management and monitoring on areas and habitat variables important to Cerulean Warblers.

Ecological Applications↗
USGS1982

A.B.A. Checklist: Birds of Continental United States and Canada

The 'Summary' in this edition of the A BA Checklist has been greatly expanded to include all properly documented records for each accidental species. These records are published, except for a very few recent ones which are in press or in preparation. Emphasis is on records supported by specimens or photographs, but sight records are also included. To make these accounts more useful to researchers, a reference has been given for each record. All records, except those identified as '(photo)' or '(specimen)', or by some other type of objective evidence, are sight records. Because of the interest shown in this section of the Checklist, coverage has not been confined to accidental species (defined as those which have occurred fewer than ten times in the ABA Checklist area during the twentieth century). Accounts are also given for selected rare visitors and native species. Two of the primary references are abbreviated in the accounts: Audubon Field Notes-AFN, and American Birds-AB.

Book↗
USGS1974

Capture-recapture analysis of a wintering black-capped chickadee population in Connecticut, 1958-1993

We investigated the dynamics of a wintering population of Black-capped Chickadees (Parus atricapillus) using data from a long-term capture-recapture study. Goodness-of-fit and likelihood-ratio tests indicated that the standard Jolly-Seber model was inadequate for the data, so we explored different parameterizations of a model in which survival probability for new captures differed from that of previously marked birds. One possible explanation for the lower local survival rate of new captures is that some of the birds were transients that had no chance of being recaptured. Average survival probability over the entire period was 0.62, and the estimated fraction of transients among unmarked birds was 0.27. We found evidence that chickadee survival rates were lower in years immediately following establishment of the Tufted Titmouse (Parus bicolor) as a territorial species (after 1967) than during years immediately preceding this event. We found no evidence that chickadee survival rates were lower in the years immediately following establishment of territorial raptors (after 1984) than during preceding years. Evidence suggested a long-term decline in survival probability from 1959 to 1991.

American Birds↗
USGS2006

An efficient method of capturing Painted Buntings and other small granivorous passerines

To study survival in the eastern breeding population of the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris), I developed a technique to capture a large sample of buntings for color marking with leg-bands. This involved the use of bird feeders and an array of three short mist nets located at 40 sites in four states, each site meeting five specific criteria. In five years of mist netting (1999-2003), 4174 captures (including recaptures) of Painted Buntings were made in 3393 net-hours or 123 captures per 100 net-hours. The technique proved to be effective and efficient, and may have broad application for capturing large numbers of small granivorous passerines.

North American Bird Bander↗
USGS2019

Coastal marsh bird habitat selection and responses to Hurricane Sandy

Wetlands provide numerous ecosystem functions such as water purification, nutrient cycling, and wildlife habitat. Avian populations are indicators of wetland health, and understanding their responses to extreme events can aid in targeting restoration efforts following disturbance. Here, we assessed the habitat selection of six coastal wetland bird species (American Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Glossy Ibis, Snowy Egret, Yellow-crowned Night Heron) related to an extreme weather event, Hurricane Sandy. We used Discrete Choice Resource Selection Functions to estimate habitat selection. Results showed species probability of use increased with lower elevation and slope, and closer proximity to marsh, salt marsh, Phragmites , and protected areas. Estimates of marsh dieback from Hurricane Sandy occurred disproportionately in areas with higher probability of species use. Species were observed farther from the coast and at higher elevations in the four breeding seasons after (2013–2016) compared to before (2000–2012) Hurricane Sandy. Our results indicate that although high suitability areas were affected by the storm, these six wetland bird species may have responded by moving inland and to higher elevation. Understanding how coastal wetland birds respond to storm events is important for conservation planning, particularly as storm frequency is projected to increase in the future.

New Jersey↗
USGS2005

Estimating size and composition of biological communities by modeling the occurrence of species

We develop a model that uses repeated observations of a biological community to estimate the number and composition of species in the community. Estimators of community-level attributes are constructed from model-based estimators of occurrence of individual species that incorporate imperfect detection of individuals. Data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey are analyzed to illustrate the variety of ecologically important quantities that are easily constructed and estimated using our model-based estimators of species occurrence. In particular, we compute site-specific estimates of species richness that honor classical notions of species-area relationships. We suggest extensions of our model to estimate maps of occurrence of individual species and to compute inferences related to the temporal and spatial dynamics of biological communities.

Journal of the American Statistical Association↗
USGS1980

Atlantic Flyway review: Region V: Laurel, Prince Georges County, MD (390-0765)

Despite a 22% increase in net-hours, the number of new birds banded dropped 26% from 1977. The decrease was noted in each month and was spread among all of the commonest species, including summer residents, winter residents, permanent residents, and transients. The greatest declines were in Scarlet Tanager (84%), Blue Jay (78%), Red-eyed Vireo (67%), Gray Catbird (62%), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (60%}, Mrytle Warbler (56%), Gray-cheeked Thrush (55%), Wood Thrush (44%0, Cardinal (38%), and White-throated Sparrow (30%). Of these species, only the Scarlet Tanager and Myrtle Warbler had been banded in unusually large numbers in 1977. Partly offsetting the decreases were a few increases: Veery (from 4 to 22 birds), Black-and-white Warbler (3 to 12), and Ovenbird (15 to 34). The four species that had been singled out for mention last year as being victims of the severe winter weather in 1976-77 - the Winter and Carolina Wrens and the Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglets - fared no better in 1978. The first three were banded in almost identical nnmbers to 1977, and the Ruby-crown dropped again as indicated in the first paragraph.

Maryland↗
USGS2007

Current range of the eastern population of Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris). Part II: Winter range

The importance of wintering areas for Neotropical migrants is well established. The wintering range of the eastern population of Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is described in detail and presented in maps. The paper also discusses extralimital records from islands in the Caribbean Basin as well as scattered wintering individuals outside the winter range. The possibility of eastern birds wintering on the Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent Central America is considered. An extensive treatment of the protected areas of Peninsular Florida, the northern Bahamas, and Cuba describes the importance of upland habitats within these protected areas for wintering buntings. This information should be useful to land management agencies, conservation organizations, and private landholders for the welfare of the bunting and biodiversity in general and may also be of interest to ornithologists, other biological disciplines, naturalists, and birders.

North American Birds↗
USGS2025

Methodology

Following the approach developed by Gregory and van Strien (2010), State of the Birds reports focus on composite summaries of population change for collections of species that share common primary habitat or taxonomic affinity. In this report, we provide composite indexes for habitat-obligate species as defined in earlier reports (Grassland, Aridland, Eastern Forest and Western Forest), for several taxonomic-based groups (Shorebirds, Waterbirds, Geese and Swans, Sea Ducks, and Dabbling/Diving Duck species), and for species on our Tipping Point list with adequate data. Lists of species included in each habitat-obligate group are presented as supplemental material at StateoftheBirds.org.

Report↗
USGS2004

Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV - Fall 2003: Robbins Nest, Laurel, MD (390-0765)

The most notable finding at this station in 2003 was the sharp decline in recaptures of previously banded birds and most especially a Crash in the chickadee and titmouse populations. In the autumn of 2001, I recaptured 36 birds banded in previous autumns, but I caught only 24 returns in 2002 and 17 in 2003, a 33% drop each year. In 2002, Tufted Titmouse was my fourth most common species (19 caught) and Carolina Chickadee (15)was in seventh place. This year, I had only four titmice and six chickadees, declines of 79% and 60%. Until now, only the migratory species have been of concern. We suspect West Nile virus is responsible. However, the oldest bird we recaptured this year was Blue Jay 723-42798, banded as HY in 1993, a species known to be especially vulnerable to West Nile. Half of this year's returns were cardinals, the oldest of which was only four years of age. My birds/100nh continues to drop each year without any noticeable change in surrounding habitat. The only banded migrant known to have remained here for more than a week was a Swainson's Thrush that weighed 31.9 g on 4 Oct and 41.6 g nine days later, an increase of 30%.

Maryland↗
USGS2002

Atlantic Flyway review: Piedmont-Coastal Plain, Region IV, Fall 2001: Robbins Nest, Laurel, MD (390-0765)

I continue to band before and after work and all day on weekends on my two and a half acres along the Patuxent River gorge between highway 1-95 and the Laurel city limits. Our kids have long since flown the coop, so I have no one to run the station when I am out of town; thus, I miss some of the best flight days. The chief changes in habitat over the years have been replacement of pines by young deciduous growth, loss of dogwoods in the mature deciduous forest, and gradual replacement of lawn by shrubbery. To explore changes in fall migration patterns, I compared my banding totals for the first five years of systematic fall banding with those of the most recent five years. By coincidence the totals were nearly identical: 2175 birds in 1973-1977 and 2169 in 1997-2001. However, my net hour totals were vastly different: 9124 in the first five years compared with 26,284 for the current period. It took nearly 2.9 times the effort to catch the same number of birds I used to band. Next year, my 30 th , I'll be checking to see which species I am losing and which are maintaining their numbers. I had 35 returns of a dozen species, but all were either summer, winter, or permanent residents. The oldest this time was only four years old, a Gray Catbird. Eleven transients repeated on a subsequent day. The one longest in residence was a Gray-cheeked Thrush that l captured 10 times in 17 days; it weighed 31.0 g when banded and reached a maximum of 51.7 g 13 days later.

Maryland↗
USGS1979

Dispersal and migratory patterns of San Francisco Bay produced herons, egrets, and terns

San Francisco Bay, California, including its fringing marshes, supports a large and diverse water related avifauna (Grinnell and Wythe 19271 Sibley 1952, Gill 1973, 1977). Certain of man's alterations of the Bay's shallower wetlands have resulted in increased habitat diversity which has allowed colonization by several species of birds including some colonial nesting species. The extensive dikes associated with salt production and some areas of higher ground created by dredge spoils have provided increased tide-free substratum, some of it insular, suitable for nesting. The resulting numbers of Snowy Egrets ( Egretta thula) , Black-crowned Night Herons ( Nycticorax nycticorax ), Forster's Terns ( Sterna forsteri ), and Caspian Terns ( Sterna caspia ) using these areas now represent a significant portion of the northern California breeding populations of these species. In conjunction with a study of the breeding birds of the South San Francisco Bay Estuary (Gill 1973, 1977) from 1971 to 1973, we banded 187 Great Blue Herons ( Ardea herodias ), 1499 Snowy Egrets, 1615 Black-crowned Night Herons, 2943 Forster's Terns, and 743 Caspian Terns; often this represented a substantial portion of these species banded in the western states during these years (Table 1). Recoveries from these bandings through 1977 plus additional recoveries from a few earlier and some more recent bandings provide the data for this report on dispersal patterns and migration of San Francisco Bay produced herons, egrets, and terns.

California↗
USGS2008

Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV Piedmont-Coastal Plain, Fall 2007: Robbins Nest, Laurel, MD (390-0765)

After a gap of two years I resumed banding at this suburban fall-line station on the Patuxent River, my 33rd fall banding season on our two-acre wooded lot. I banded three mornings per week, trying to keep the same schedule as the Patuxent powerline station five miles downstream. I used half as many nets as they did and captured only 15% as many birds. Their location in a large undeveloped area combined with their managed shrub habitat probably accounted for most of the difference. The powerline station favored warblers and kinglets; I did better on cardinals and thrushes. I have witnessed a continuing decline in warblers. In 1997 and 1998 I was still getting four species of warblers among my top ten, and then two or three warbler species through 2004; 2007 was my first year with no warblers among my top ten species. My oldest recapture was a 1 0-year-old Gray Catbird (8051-36905) banded as an AHY on 18 Aug 1998.

Maryland↗
USGS1979

The light-footed clapper rail: An update

A preliminary report on the Light-footed Clapper Rail, Rallus longirostris levipes , estimated a population of 500-750 birds in California (Wilbur, Am. Birds 28:868-870, 1974). Since then, additional work has been accomplished, most notably: (1) an intensive study of Carpinteria Marsh, Santa Barbara County, 1976-1977 (Basham); (2) a series of winter high tide counts at Anaheim Bay, Orange County, 1975-1977 (Massey, C. Collins, J. Lindell, M. Silbernagle); and (3) a detailed investigation of the rail population of Tijuana Slough, San Diego County, 1973-1974 (Jorgensen). These, plus short-term studies by the authors and K. Bender, D. Pinkler, P. Johns, and S. Lockhart, have shown that the original estimate was unrealistic. A more probable winter total is 300 rails, distributed as described below.

California↗