Happy New Year!

Welcome to our new President, Katharine Parsons!

Summary of 2011 Meeting

The thirty-fifth annual meeting of the Waterbird Society was held 9-12 November 2011 at the Doubletree Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland. This was actually the second Waterbird Society meeting in calendar year 2011; the March 2011 meeting in Nebraska, held jointly with the North American Crane Working Group, was the society’s thirty-fourth annual meeting.

Ellen Paul, Melanie Steinkamp, and Any Bernick constituted the local committee. At the meeting, Will Mackin and Dave Brinker assisted with logistics and AV management

On Thursday 10 November, James A. Kushlan, past-president of the Waterbird Society and recipient of the Waterbird Society’s Kai Curry Lindahl International Conservation Award, recounted from his personal perspective the story of colonial waterbird conservation in North America over the past 40 years, often noting the roles played by Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. He discussed the development of some of the major academic and conservation themes in colonial waterbird conservation – inventory and monitoring, populations, behavior and ecology, and conservation action revealing the stories behind the stories as to how we got where we are today and his view of the future of colonial waterbird conservation in North America through hemispheric planning for local conservation action.

On Friday, 11 November, Ted Simons, Professor and Assistant Unit Leader in the US Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Biology, NC State University, highlighted the collaborative achievements of the American Oystercatcher Working Group over the past 10 years including; the establishment of range-wide surveys, color-banding protocols, mark-resight studies, a revision of the Birds of North America species account, and new mechanisms for sharing information and data. Collaborations among state, federal, and private sector scientists, natural resource managers, and dedicated volunteers have provided insights into the biology and conservation of oystercatchers in the U.S. and abroad that would not have been possible without the relationships formed through the working group.

Three symposia were presented:

-       The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center–contributions to waterbird science and conservation (eight talks honoring the 75th anniversary of PWRC).

-       Reddish Egret Conservation (eight talks by researchers and land managers who are currently engaged in ongoing reddish egret research and conservation projects)

-       The BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill and waterbird conservation (seven talks on the first pre-spill assessments of the earliest patterns of injuries detected to various waterbird species and guilds found in the Gulf of Mexico)

Two special sessions were presented:

-       American Oystercatcher Conservation Science (seven talks)

-       Migration and Wintering areas of Arctic- and Temperate-nesting Waterbirds (six talks)

Papers presented in symposia: 23

Papers presented in special sessions: 13

Papers presented in general sessions: 42

Posters presented: 30

Student Awards

2011 Grant Recipients Announced

See our Grant Awards Page.

Scientific Program

The scientific program from our 2011 Annual Meeting in Annapolis, MD is now available.

Final Scientific Program with Abstracts

Annual Meeting in Annapolis Nov. 9-12: Plenary Speakers

James A. Kushlan is a writer, scientist, educator, and conservationist. His research and conservation work focuses on waterbirds, seabirds, and wetlands. He has written over 200 papers and several books including Herons Handbook (1984), The Freshwater Fishes of Southern Florida (1987), Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World (1993), Heron Conservation (2000), The Herons (2005), Waterbird Conservation for the Americas (2005), and Conserving Herons (2007). Dr. Kushlan has held positions as research biologist for the National Park Service, professor of biology and director Center for Water Resources Texas A&M University (Commerce), professor and chair of biology University of Mississippi, director Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, senior science advisor US Geological Survey, and research associate Smithsonian Institution. He has served as president of the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Waterbird Society, editor of Waterbirds and Florida Field Naturalist. He is the founder and current council member of Waterbird Conservation for the Americas, president of the Bahamas Environment Fund, co-founder and chair of the IUCN Heron Specialist Group, and serves on the boards of the Everglades Foundation, Friends of the Everglades, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, History-Miami, American Ornithologists’ Union, John Cabot University (emeritus), and Biscayne Nature Center.  His accomplishments have been recognized by the Waterbird Society’s Kai Curry Lindahl International Conservation Award, as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union, as a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, by a Distinguished Faculty Award at Texas A&M – Commerce, and honorary honorary doctor of science degrees by John Cabot University and by Thiel College.
Plenary Description
Dr Kushlan will investigate, from his personal perspective, threads of the story of colonial waterbird conservation in North America over the past 40 years, often  noting the roles played by Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. He will discuss the development of some of the major academic and conservation themes in colonial waterbird conservation – inventory and monitoring, populations, behavior and ecology, and conservation action revealing the stories behind the stories as to how we got where we are today. There has been a remarkable amount of success and some disappointments along the way. But the future of colonial waterbird conservation in North America seems clear- hemispheric planning for local conservation action.

Ted Simons is a Professor and Assistant Unit Leader in the US Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Biology, NC State University.  He earned his BS at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Washington, Seattle.  He served as a research biologist with the National Park Service and the Director of the NPS Cooperative Park Studies at the University of Virginia before coming to NCSU in 1993.  His research strives to improve species conservation and monitoring programs, and the management of protected areas through a better understanding of wildlife habitat relationships and sampling methods. Central to that research has been the application of ecological principles to the conservation of rare, endangered, or declining species and their habitats.  Recent research has been directed toward the conservation of Neotropical migratory landbirds, including studies of the stopover ecology of birds during migration and breeding birds in southern Appalachian forests, and the conservation of marine birds, including the endangered Hawaiian Petrel, Black‐capped Petrels in the Dominican Republic, and American Oystercatchers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Research is focused in three broad areas: (1) understanding the ecological factors that constrain species diversity and abundance, (2) modeling wildlife habitat relationships at the population and landscape level, and (3) improving wildlife population sampling methods.
Plenary Description
Haematopology – collaborative focal species research and management in waterbird conservation.
In this presentation I will highlight the collaborative achievements of the American Oystercatcher Working Group over the past 10 years including; the establishment of range-wide surveys, color-banding protocols, mark-resight studies, a revision of the Birds of North America species account, and new mechanisms for sharing information and data.  Collaborations among state, federal, and private sector scientists, natural resource managers, and dedicated volunteers have provided insights into the biology and conservation of oystercatchers in the U.S. and abroad that would not have been possible without the relationships formed through the working group.  I will argue that broad collaborative approaches and the engagement of the public are key elements of effective species conservation programs.

Marshbird Monitoring

The USFWS Migratory Bird Program is inviting input on its proposal to advance marshbird monitoring; specifically feedback on a series of questions which will then inform a summit meeting late in the year. We are very interested in coordinating with Partners in Flight, especially in light of your unique capacity and key role in avian monitoring and data management.

Marshbird_white_paper_20110718_FINAL

Please take time to review this document and provide feedback to me no later than September 30, 2011. I will be sure to provide information and updates following that as they become available.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Katie Koch, Midwest Bird Monitoring Coordinator
Midwest Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership
http://midwestbirdmonitoring.ning.com/

Position: Forbes Biological Station

Click for more information.

2011 Annual Meeting

Information about the meeting will be posted at the website of the Waterbird Society (http://www.waterbirds.org/annual_meeting).

*THE THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WATERBIRD SOCIETY will be held in Annapolis, Maryland, from 10 Nov – 12 Nov 2011. This meeting will constitute the annual meeting for the 2011 calendar year, and will include presentations of research papers, symposia, workshops, social events and area field trips.  The meeting venue is a charming city founded in 1649 and home to the U.S. Naval Academy.  Annapolis is a walking city with historical buildings, and waterfront dining and recreation.  Chesapeake Bay and nearshore waters offer a variety of field trip options for birding and to view research and restoration sites.  Members and prospective attendees are invited to participate in the development of the scientific program by submitting proposals to organize symposia, sessions and workshops.  Potential topics include but are not limited to: 1) conservation science of beach-nesting shorebirds, 2) first-year update of impacts of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on waterbirds, 3) assessing abundance and demographics of secretive marshbirds, 4) coordinated monitoring of colonially-nesting waterbirds, 5) restoration of wetland habitats in Chesapeake Bay, 6) transboundary management and conservation issues of seabirds, 7) new developments in tracking technology.  Proposals should include 1-2 paragraph summary including rationale, and list of proposed speakers and presentation titles, and should be sent to the Scientific Program Chair by 1 July 2011.  Deadline for submitting abstracts for paper sessions and posters is 1 September 2011. Submit an abstract and/or register. Information about the meeting will be posted at the website of the Waterbird Society (http://www.waterbirds.org/annual_meeting). Contacts for the meeting are: ELLEN PAUL, Local Committee Co-Chair , Melanie Steinkamp, Local Committee Co-Chair , and KATHARINE PARSONS, Scientific Program Chair ).

2010 Annual Meeting Documents and Information

Full Abstracts
Author Index

Invited Plenary Speakers

Plenary: Monday, March 14, 2011

Climate change and prairie wetlands: implications for migratory birds

The rapid rates of climate change in concert with land use conversion pose unprecedented challenges to wetland and avian conservation across the North American prairies. Although wetland-dependent bird populations have persisted through millennia of both climate stasis and extreme variability throughout their evolutionary history, their future is uncertain. I will explore paleoclimates, external and anthropogenic causes of climate change, approaches to projecting the effects of climate change on species and habitats, and the associated uncertainties. I will briefly discuss current interdisciplinary work that addresses the links between climate, ecosystem processes, wetland management, and waterbird communities in North American prairie wetland systems. This effort is downscaling climate data using dynamical approaches and developing derivative models that forecast climate effects on palustrine wetland landscapes, riverine systems, and their associated bird communities.

Dr. Susan K. Skagen is a research wildlife biologist with the US Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center where she has conducted research in support of migratory bird conservation for nearly 23 years. Her recent work has focused primarily on shorebirds migrating across midcontinental North America, landbirds migrating across the arid southwest, and population demography of shortgrass prairie birds. Her current work examines these systems within the context of climate change.

Plenary: Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Gary Krapu began studying spring staging ecology of sandhill cranes in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of south-central Nebraska in 1977 while project leader for the Platte River Ecology Study.  The Platte River Ecology Study Special Research Report and other publications resulting from his research in the 1970s have been a key source of information used by wildlife managers when addressing sandhill crane habitat needs over the past 30 years.  From the early to mid-1990s, Dr. Krapu observed changes from the 1970s in diurnal movements of cranes while in the CPRV and in their condition based on measurements taken on storm-killed cranes.  He suspected environmental changes may be underway in the CPRV that could have adverse consequences to the Mid-continent Population (MCP).  Drawing on his observations and other identified research needs, Dr. Krapu initiated research through the USGS Priority Ecosystem Studies program to assess the current capacity of the CPRV to meet crane needs.  Taking advantage of emerging technologies, he and co-worker Dave Brandt expanded this research effort to address key information needs of crane managers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Russia.  Dr. Krapu will begin by describing the geographic distribution and movements of 4 subpopulations of MCP cranes throughout the annual cycle based on information obtained from individuals tagged with PTTs in the CPRV and North Platte River Valley in early spring.  Following this introduction, he will address key research findings from recent sandhill crane studies in the CPRV with a focus primarily on results with important implications to sandhill crane management.

Grant Award Winners Announced

Nisbet Grant:  Louise Blight, University of British Columbia (PhD student), for her proposal: “Long-term trends in the glaucous-winged gull, Larus glaucescens – sentinel for a century of ecosystem change.” ($819)

Kushlan Grant:  The Committee decided to grant two awards.

Roberto Carlos Frias Soler, University of Havana (professor), Cuba:  “Genetic characterization of Cuban flamingo colonies”  ($1500)

Bhaiya Khanal, Nepal Bioheritage Forum for Resources Conservation, Nepal: “Comparative analysis of population sizes and conservation status of wading birds in Chitwan and Makwanpur Districts of central Nepal.”  ($4700)

R. Michael Erwin, chairman

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill- Status and Discussion

We are asking all members that study birds in areas affected by the spill to provide brief updates on the Waterbird Society’s website on what you are doing to assess impacts and provide recovery efforts.  Click Here to participate.

To report oiled wildlife call: (866) 557-1401

Waterbird links to Deepwater Horizon event

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Contaminants Program

http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/

Deepwater Horizon Response, Fish and Wildlife Report

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963

Tri-State Bird Research and Rescue

http://www.tristatebird.org/

NOAA BP Oil Spill Incident Response

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/dwh.php?entry_id=809

International Bird Rescue Research Center

http://www.ibrrc.org/

Other links related to Gulf of Mexico & Waterbird Conservation

Waterbird Conservation for the Americas – SE Planning Region

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/nacwcp/southeast_us.html

U.S. Geological Survey Waterbird Monitoring Partnership, Database Access

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/cwb/database/disclaimer.html

2009 Annual Meeting Overview

The 33rd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society was held at The Grand Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, 4-7 November 2009 and was attended by 256 registered participants (a 46.3% increase over 2008), making it one of our largest meetings ever. Our 2007 meeting in Barcelona had 269 registrants. There were 197 abstracts submitted for the conference (a 34.7% increase over 2008), 43 of which were posters and 154 which were oral presentation. The oral presentations allowed for three full days of three concurrent sessions. Sixty-one (31.0%) of the abstracts were submitted by students, (student awards) which is nearly identical to the 31.3% from last year.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Cape Hatteras National Seashore is currently developing alternatives, including their preferred alternative, for a regulation governing off-road vehicle (ORV) use on the Seashore’s 67 miles of ocean beach. The Seashore has elected to have this ORV regulation determine how natural resources (shorebirds, waterbirds, sea turtles, and others) will be protected on the Seashore. This regulation will set a precedent for a similar regulation being developed for Cape Lookout National Seashore and could impact other National Seashores.

We are reaching out to the diverse community of scientists and wildlife professionals who specialize in research and management of birds, sea turtles, and other natural resources. We are asking you to sign on to a letter requesting that the National Park Service implement the science-based natural resource protection measures that are consistent with the best available scientific research. The implementation of adequate, science-based natural resource protection measures will be critical to the future protection of shorebirds, waterbirds, sea turtles, and other natural resources on the Seashore.

Please visit: http://nc.audubon.org/birds-science-education/995786

On the site, you will find the letter that will be sent to the National Park Service and a response form where you can select “yes” to have your name added to the letter. You will also find documents relevant to the issue (USGS Protocols for Cape Hatteras National Seashore, population trends for nesting birds and sea turtles, conservation and recovery plans, literature review).

Please take a minute to add your name to the list of scientists and wildlife professionals that support science-based protection for shorebirds, waterbirds, and sea turtles on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Walker Golder, Audubon North Carolina

Tel: 910-686-7527

wgolder@audubon.org

Wetlands and Waterbirds: Managing for Resilience

Conference 9-13 November 2009, Leeton, NSW, Australia

The conference details are given at: http://fivebough.org.au

2008 Annual Meeting Overview

The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society was held on South Padre Island (SPI), Texas, 4-7 November 2008 and was attended by 175 registered participants. There were 147 abstracts submitted for the conference, 39 of which were posters and 108 which were oral presentation; 46 (31.3%) of the abstracts were submitted by students. Click here to view the meeting program or a full list of abstracts. The meeting venue was the SPI Convention Centre and the La Quinte motel, a late substitution for the Sheridan Hotel which had been damaged by Hurricane Dolly.

There were two Plenary Presentations: “How Climate Change Might Impact Arctic-breeding Shorebirds: Evidence from Short and Long-term Studies” by Dr. Erica Nol and “Wild Whooping Cranes: Current and Emerging Conservation Issues” By Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez. Student Awards: the Best Student Paper was awarded to Sean Murphy (U.S.) for “Investigating the Demographics of a Shorebird Near the Northern Limit of its Range”. There were three Noteworthy Student Papers: Paul Smith (Canada) for “Predator Abundance and Incubation Behavior Explain Interannual and Interspecific Patterns of Nest Success for Arctic Breeding Shorebirds”, Melissa Pink (Canada) for “The Role of Changing Aquatic Ecosystems on Avian Predators: Do Forster’s Terns Respond to the Aquatic Environment As Well As to Changes in Prey Abundance?” and Elizabeth Bates (U.S.) for “Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Reddish Egrets in Texas”. The Best Student Poster was awarded to Rafael Ordonez (U.S.) for “Simple and Inexpensive Devices to Measure Heart Rate of Incubating Birds”. The Noteworthy Student Poster was awarded to Jeff R. Troy (U.S.) for “Reduction in the Breeding Range of Newell’s Shearwaters, Puffinus newelli, on Kauai, Hawaii: Evidence and Insights from Field Surveys and GIS Modelling”.

There were daily field trips in the area as well as a Saturday evening banquet and Silent Auction featuring a variety of unique ornithological items. Next year’s meeting is scheduled for Cape May, New Jersey, on 4-7 November 2009. Click here for more information.