Fern Davies

Mary P. Wright, age 76, of Gilsum, New Hampshire passed away on Monday, July 19, 2021. Mary was born January 13, 1945. She had been a bander at the Appledore Island Migration Station since 1987. She wrote of her time on Appledore, "In 1985 I went to Appledore for a bird study weekend and was fascinated by the bird banding operation. Decided I had to learn more ... maybe I could find someone in southern New Hampshire who was banding sparrows or whatever. Within a week of getting home I got a flyer from the Bronx Zoo saying a group of volunteers was going to Patagonia to band penguins and would I like to join them? So I ended up in Argentina with a handful of humans and hundreds of thousands of Magellanic Penguins. When I returned I sent penguin photos to David. He didn't remember me, but he said if I came out to the island again, I should introduce myself, which I did. David said, "You're serious about banding, aren't you?" and told me he was thinking about starting a class; would I be interested? So I was in the very first Dangle, Tangle with Mac McKenna and Phyl Hatch. Hard to believe that was almost thirty years ago." She was also a devoted supporter of New Hampshire Audubon. Her many contributions which enabled that organization to start Project Nighthawk (a project I coordinate), and most recently to conduct research on Northern Harriers, and implement a new bird tracking technology called Motus.

ScienceFriday hosting a Wednesday night trivia contest. Tune in tomorrow @8:30 p.m. for bird nerd trivia with ornithologists Juita Martinez (dinosaur floofologist) and Jordan Rutter (co-founder of Bird Names for Birds).

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/scifri-virtual-trivia-night/

Ornithologist Alejandra Echeverri has been nominated for the Pritzger Emerging Environmental Genius Award, Dr. Echeverri, a conservation scientist at Stanford, has a B.Sc. degree in biology from Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), an M.Sc. in resource management and environmental studies from University of British Columbia (UBC, Canada), and a Ph.D. in resources, environment and sustainability (UBC, Canada).

She worked as a tropical ornithologist in environmental consulting firms in Colombia (Plyma S.A. and AmbientalMente). Dr. Echeverri also volunteered to do sustainable development work and peace education in Norway, Colombia, and other countries (with CISV International, the Norwegian Peace Corps, The Norwegian Youth Council, CISV Colombia). 

The Pritzter Award is given annually by the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability to a scientist, entrepreneur, engineer, activist or artist—under the age of 40—who stands poised to make a game-changing difference.

https://obits.columbian.com/us/obituaries/columbian/name/erick-campbell-obituary?pid=199201494

Erick George Campbell, 73, of Vancouver, WA, passed away March 31, 2021, of organ failure. He was born, in his words, “Twelve-Eleven-Forty-Seven” (December 11, 1947) in La Mesa, CA, to Brent and Rita Campbell, and was a proud La Mesan and Helix High School graduate for his entire adult life. At Helix, he had a good career as a wrestler and football player.

A lifelong birder, he studied at Humboldt State University and made his career in Wildlife Biology, focusing at various moments in his life on the Kestrel (master’s thesis), the Sage Grouse, and the Spotted Owl for Bureau of Land Management. One of his proud accomplishments was the creation of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Sierra Vista, AZ, created through his leadership in 1988. Always more interested in lunch than work, he enjoyed Indian buffets, and, even more so, a good hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. He constantly embarrassed his former partner and children by practicing his Spanish with waiters and waitresses.

Erick was quick-witted and fierce in his execution of a good rib. He passed along these traits to his children, as well as his immense love of travel. He took both his sons to Peru in their young-adulthood, taught them to travel wisely and often, and considered that his goal in life after retirement, to see the world and all its birds.

Family was of utmost importance to Erick. His mother’s Swedish heritage was a lifelong source of pride, and he collected recipes, artifacts, and family history from that arm of his ancestry with ferocity. He was able to visit the homeland in August 2012, meeting extended family and making that lifelong connection in person.

Erick is survived by sisters, Jan and Karin; children, Colin and Lars; former partner, Amy; granddaughter, Emily; and many nieces and nephews from the Birrenkotts, Cotas, and Campbells. He was preceded in death by parents, Brent and Rita; and by his older brother, Bob.
Donations may be made in his name to the Audubon Society, whose mission is to protect birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation, at audubon.org

https://journalstar.com/news/local/education/he-just-loved-sharing-knowledge----family-colleagues-remember-renowned-ornithologist-paul-johnsgard/article_3c14ada2-fa51-5892-9031-8269b72bf149.html

Paul Johnsgard, the renowned ornithologist who authored more than 100 books on birds, ecology and natural history, remained a prolific writer until his death Friday.

The emeritus professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who was known to birdwatchers worldwide as an authority on cranes and pheasants, was 89.

With his latest book — "S Is for Sandhill: A Crane Alphabet" — hot off the digital press in April, Johnsgard spent Monday and Tuesday last week reviewing proofs of his final book, which will be published later this summer.

Ann Bouma, Johnsgard's daughter, said her father was "always busy, always going, always active, even up to his last few months."

"He just loved sharing knowledge and his wonder of birds with others," said Bouma, who also teaches at UNL. "And he was always trying to expose more and more people to the idea of nature."

Through his love of birds, especially sandhill cranes, Johnsgard became an ambassador of sorts for Nebraska, accompanying the likes of nature photographers Tom Mangelsen and Joel Sartore and primatologist Jane Goodall on excursions to the Platte River to watch the annual migration.

Johnsgard was especially revered among ornithologists, according to Larkin Powell, a wildlife ecologist and author at UNL, and perhaps more recognizable — at least globally — than anyone else in the state.

Powell said he's grown accustomed to seeing Johnsgard's books on the shelves of scholars in different countries, and said the man and the place are routinely connected in conversation.

 Paul Johnsgard's luck-filled life of birds, adventures and love of Nebraska's prairies

"I think he's known by more people around the world as a University of Nebraska faculty member than anyone else," Powell said.

Born in Fargo, North Dakota, on June 28, 1931, Johnsgard attended junior college in Wahpeton before transferring to North Dakota Agricultural College, which is now North Dakota State University.

After earning degrees in botany and zoology, he completed a master's degree at Washington State and a Ph.D. at Cornell before accepting a faculty position at UNL in 1961.

Over a 40-year career, Johnsgard earned each of the university's highest honors for distinguished teaching, outstanding research and creative activity, and was recognized by numerous scientific and conservation groups.

Daughter Karin Johnsgard, of Maryland, said her father "embodied the stereotype of an absent-minded professor" absorbed in his work, caring little for clothes or cars, using the spring and fall equinox as a reminder to schedule one of his biannual haircuts.

If he had little time for material things, Karin Johnsgard said, her father made up for it by his commitment to "observing nature faithfully" — noting how many primary feathers a specific species of bird has, or how its song differs depending on its geography.

"The details mattered, and it was important that things be faithfully recorded," she said.

Powell said Johnsgard was a skilled artist and photographer in addition to being a prodigious writer with a talent for reaching new audiences.

His "Wildlife of Nebraska," a tome on 600 species native to the Cornhusker State, could be used by anyone, from fifth graders writing a report to professional ecologists, Powell said.

"It had just an incredible amount of detail, and he was the one who knew that stuff and took the time," Powell said. "I don't know what drove him specifically, other than he just really loved sharing that information."

When he wasn't in the field or at the writing desk, Johnsgard took on the role of "conservation activist," working with former Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers on bills to protect mountain lions and prairie dogs, and once scheming to thwart the creation of a prairie chicken hunting season in Southeast Nebraska.

Survived by his wife of 65 years, Lois, and three of his four children, Johnsgard was constantly trying to instill a love of nature in the next generation, his daughters said.

Growing up, Bouma and Johnsgard said their father would haul the family into the wild on trips where they could observe nature up close, taking great care to explain the natural cycles of the world.

Often, he talked about the sandhill cranes in geologic terms, explaining how the birds had journeyed through Nebraska for millions of years, and would do so for millions of years to come.

"For him it was the continuation of life that goes on," Bouma said.

https://mailchi.mp/amplifythefuture.org/scholarship-for-birders-in-stem

Matthew Halley is an evolutionary biologist, historian, and musician based at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He has  lived in many countries around the world and has taken expeditions to remote places in search of scientific knowledge. Matthew is a fifth-generation American, born in Pennsylvania and descended from German-Slovak immigrants. His ancestors were soldiers, coal miners, mechanics, nurses, and teachers. To His knowledge, I am the first ornithologist in my family tree. This website is a place where I compile the fruits of my academic and musical activities.

His ornithology articles are terrific - fascinating, well-written, and truly worth your time.

Like this: https://matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/who-was-the-first-non-male-american-ornithologist/

And this: https://matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/charlie-parkers-ornithology-played-by-an-ornithologist/

Or this  https://matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2015/12/13/more-beards-of-american-ornithology-3/

Do yourself a favor - spend a few minutes, over your morning shade-grown coffee - wandering around Halley's musings.

NASHVILLE-Martha Hays Cooper died peacefully at home in Nashville on Thursday, Feb. 4, after years of struggling with Alzheimer’s. “Ookie”was married to Rep. Jim Cooper for almost 36 years, mother of their three amazing children, Mary (Scott Gallisdorfer), Jamie, and Hayes, and grandmother of the incomparable Jay.

Martha was born on Sept. 13, 1954, the second child of the late Dr. A.V. Hays and Dr. Martha Hays Taylor of Gulfport, Mississippi. Her siblings,Art Hays (Debbie) of Gaithersburg, MD, and Mary Hays Peller (Steve) of New Orleans,survive her. Martha graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1976 and from Mississippi State in 1980 with an M.S. in ornithology. Her first job was in a cubbyhole in the attic of the Natural History Museum, the Bird Division of the Smithsonian, staffing the first two editions of the million-selling National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. An adventuresome soul, Martha smoked cigars in swamps to repel mosquitoes, made lifelong friends in Buenos Aires, taught children and studied Puffins for the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, protected Least Terns on Gulf of Mexico beaches, camped in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and worked the Galápagos Islands for World Wildlife Fund,all while keeping an African-Grey parrot named Baroot in her kitchen. 

Martha lived in Georgetown and drove a 1971 Robin’s-egg-blue Volvo P1800E when she met Jim, the youngest congressman in the U.S., who proposed at a White House Christmas party. Part Audrey Hepburn, Ali MacGraw, and Penelope Cruz, Martha was wary of politics until she lived in Shelbyville with Jim’s mother for a few months in 1984 to manage Jim’s first re-election campaign. The experiment worked. They married on April 6, 1985,followed by the birth of Mary Argentine in 1990, John James Audubon in 1991, and Hayes Hightower in 1995.Martha loved Mardi Gras, Galatoires (“the big G”), hurricanes and snow,peonies, Little Cayman Island,Ernie Banks, homemade popovers, Radnor Lake, friends in the Query and Centennial Clubs, Aretha Franklin and Paul McCartney, Standard Poodles(Ruby, Sirius Black, and Romeo), Cicadas, golf, City House’s belly-ham pizza, families of Crows, Prince Charles, her Cardinal-red 2003 Mini-Cooper, and the Hermitage, serving as Regent of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association.Her favorite president was Barack Obama; favorite bird: Upupa epops. Martha’s charm and optimism were heroic, eclipsing her illness. She ALWAYS smiled and said thank you.She loved car travel; on bumpy roads she’d say “this makes me wiggle.”In recent years,she drew wobbly hearts on everything...with a Sharpie when she could find one.

Memberships are *FREE* in 2021 to #BIPOC #LGBTQ & #Disabled community members!

Membership benefits: - apply to student grants - access Picoides - meeting registration discount

Apply here: https://hocking.biology.ualberta.ca/sco/

Dr. Gilbert L. Twiest, 83, of Shippenville, passed away at Indiana Regional Medical Center on Jan. 7, 2021.

Born on April 23, 1937, in Muskegon, Mich., he was the son of August and Mildred Bond Twiest.

He married Linda Dancz in 1958 and was married for 58 years.

Gilbert received his undergraduate degree and master’s degree at Michigan State University and his Ph.D. at the University of Toledo.

Gilbert was a faculty member of the biology department at Clarion University from 1968 to 1998 during which time he worked closely with educators and scientists. He was an active scholar and provided service to a great number of organizations as well as influencing thousands of his students throughout the years. He was president of the Council for Elementary Science International and was a founding member and board member from 1994 to 1998 of the North American Nature Photography Association. He was also a lifelong member of the National Science Teachers Association and the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association, and active in the Audubon Society.

Gil worked closely with the McKeever Environmental Learning Center, teaching courses, giving lectures and exhibiting his photography there. An avid birder, ornithologist and photographer, Gilbert published several filmstrip series in the 1960s and ’70s, and later had his photographs featured in a variety of periodicals, including several that were chosen for covers. He was also proud of a photograph in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

He took great pride in his farm and worked tirelessly to keep it up. He was a renaissance man who taught both his sons construction techniques as well as plumbing and electrical skills. While on the farm, he built several pole structures with his sons. Gilbert also did woodworking and passed this hobby on to his sons. He enjoyed small-game hunting with the dogs he trained. Gilbert also had a great love of Chrysler automobiles. He attended the Hershey and Carlisle car shows for the past 30 years with friends and family while amassing a car collection of 20 vehicles.

Gilbert and Linda, who was his lifelong companion in living life to the fullest, traveled the world birding, including trips to Brazil, New Zealand and Mexico. He traveled extensively, traveling to all 49 states by RV, often with his two sons in their motorhomes. The longest of these trips was to Alaska where he was accompanied by both of his sons and their families for major portions of the excursion.

He valued family and family history and compiled books of letters, stories from his childhood and albums of pictures and gave them to his children and grandchildren.

Gilbert is survived by his sons, Dr. Mark G. Twiest and his wife, Dr. Meghan Twiest, of Home; and Capt. Bradley J. Twiest and his wife, Tracy Twiest, of Slippery Rock; his daughter Suely AF Rodrigues and her husband, Luiz CD Silviera, of Sao Paulo, Brazil; his grandchildren, Burkely (Twiest) Gallo and her husband, Jed Gallo, of Norman, Okla.; Kylie Twiest and fiance Nick Steele, of Cranberry; and Ben Twiest, of Slippery Rock; and Marianna and Julia Rodrigues-Silveira, of Sao Paulo.

He was preceded in death by his daughter Pam; his son-in-law David Emig; wife Linda; his parents; his brother Jack, of Muskegon; and sister Trudy, of Dayton, Ohio.

Horace G. Loftin Jr., 93, of Greenville, formerly of Beaufort, died Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, at Vidant Health in Greenville.

Horace was born in Beaufort to Sadie Lee Henderson Loftin and Horace G. Loftin Sr. He graduated with a bachelor of science from Duke University. He earned a master’s degree in journalism, a master’s degree in biology and a doctorate in biology from Florida State University. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.

In 1955, he married his soul mate, Janice Keller Loftin, in Duke University Chapel. They had three children, Rex, Laura and Tomas. In 1961, the family moved to the Panama Canal Zone, where Horace taught classes in the Florida State University branch campus. He also worked in administration for the Panama Canal Co. as an environmental specialist. The family returned to the U.S. in 1977. He worked various jobs as an environmental advisor for North Carolina and the U.S. Department of Health and Urban Development. He finished his public service with the Department of the Navy in Panama City, Fla. He retired from civil service in 1993.

In 2003, Horace moved back to his hometown of Beaufort. In 2014, he moved to Cypress Glen Retirement Community in Greenville. He maintained his Beaufort home for monthly visits.

Horace was a renowned ornithologist, specializing in the birds of Panama and Central America. He was a founding member of the Panama Audubon Society and the Panama Anthropological Society. He had many adventures in the jungles of Panama. He continued his lifelong passion for birding by traveling to six continents on many birdwatching expeditions during his retirement. His life list of birds seen put him in the top 5% of birders in the world.

Another passion Horace enjoyed was celebrating his Scottish heritage. He helped to found the Clan Henderson Society. He was the Clan genealogist for many years. He served one term as society president.

His greatest interest during his retirement was genealogy, especially for Carteret County and eastern North Carolina. While living in Beaufort in retirement, he became very active with The History Place Museum, now the Carteret County History Museum, in Morehead City. He spent thousands of hours in the genealogical library of the museum helping others trace their family history in the area.

Horace loved to travel. In his later years, he enjoyed small ship cruising. He said he could sit in the bow of the ship with binoculars in one hand and a “wee dram” in the other and watch the world go by.

Horace is survived by his sons, Rex Loftin and wife Karen and Tomas Loftin; grandchildren, Richard Wilkins and wife Gina, Jeanette Connor and husband James, Ashley Hyman and husband Nat, Daniel Wilkins and wife Kristen, Kevin Loftin, Shawn Wilkins and Kyle Wilkins; four great-grandchildren; and cousins, Billy Evans and wife Lil and Tom Halvosa and wife Reina.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Janice; and his daughter, Laura.

John Lester Zimmerman lived a full and joyous 87 years. He died in Chesterfield, MO on January 19, 2021. He was born in Hamilton Ontario, Canada in 1933. He grew up in Cincinnati, OH where exploring the forests and hills of the Ohio river valley he developed his love of natural history, especially the study of birds.

In addition to his love of birds, he enjoyed all forms of music, especially chorale music, he sang in many choirs. He was an avid reader and author. He received his undergraduate and masters degrees in Zoology from Michigan State University, his doctorate degree in Ornithology, from the University of Illinois. He married his wife of 62 years, Janice Mae Gray, on July 23, 1955.

He joined the Division of Biology at Kansas State University in the fall of 1963. He pioneered E-learning as the “voice on the tape recorder” for the Principles of Biology course. In addition to teaching Biology and Ornithology, research and publication in grassland bird ecology, he was instrumental in the development of the Friends of Konza Prairie education program.

Zimmerman was the first coordinator of the Kansas Breeding Survey when it was initiated in 1967 and he continued as coordinator until he retired 35 years later. Together with Willliam Busby, he initiated the Kansas Breeding Bird Atlas in 1992.

After 35 years at Kansas State, he and Janice retired to Charlottesville, Virginia. In retirement he was active in the Monticello Bird Club and the Ivy Creek Nature Center. In recent years he has lived at Friendship Village in Chesterfield, MO. In Chesterfield, he served as a docent for the local butterfly sanctuary helping others appreciate the natural world.

John is preceded in death by his parents Lester Batdorf and Mary Wilda Zimmerman, his infant daughter Gretchen, his sister Grace Engelhardt and his wife Janice Zimmerman. John is survived by his sister Mary Alexander, his sons Stephan (Karla), Paul (Karen), David (Cheri), nine grandchildren and three great children. John was a loving, positive and pragmatic role model to all. He will be fondly remembered.

A wonderful video here.

Storrs was born on April 3, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, being named for his maternal grandfather, P. S. Lovejoy, a well-known Michigan conservationist. Storrs’s father, Franklyn C. W. Olson (1910-82), was a physical oceanographer, whose PhD dissertation was on the currents of Lake Erie. At an early age, Storrs was exposed to pickled fish, warbler migration, Peterson’s field guide, and an assortment of biologists at the F. T. Stone Laboratory of Ohio State University on Gibraltar Island at the western end of Lake Erie. In 1950, his father accepted a job at Florida State University and his family moved to Tallahassee, where Storrs grew up and lived until 1968. Although Storrs was originally interested in fishes and made a diverse collection of the ichthyofauna of the Florida panhandle, at age 12 his direction was changed permanently by local ornithologist Henry M. Stevenson’s invitation to participate in a Christmas bird count, in the course of which Stevenson found and collected an out-of-season prairie warbler. From that moment, the prospect of shooting birds seemed far more engaging than seining fish and a lifetime’s course was set. Another important influence during Storrs’s teens was Horace Loftin, then a graduate student at Florida State University working on a master’s thesis on the phenomenon of boreal shorebirds summering far from their breeding grounds. Storrs and Horace spent many exciting weekends together on the Gulf coast trapping and marking shorebirds. Subsequently, Loftin moved his family to the Panama Canal Zone, where he taught and worked on a PhD degree on fresh-water fishes of Panama. Storrs moved in with him in 1963 and spent his first semester after high school at Canal Zone Junior College, with many expeditions to the “interior” for his first experiences in the tropics. He finished his undergraduate work at Florida State University in 1966 and returned to Panama for the summer as part of a project working on immunology of vultures. With his primary interests in systematics and anatomy, Storrs started graduate school at the University of Florida under Pierce Brodkorb. There he gained valuable exposure to fossil birds and the literature of avian paleontology as well as a lifelong friendship with one of ornithology’s most unforgettable characters. Otherwise, Gainesville was not to his liking and he returned to Florida State University to complete his master’s degree in 1968. Because of the number of significant new records of birds that Storrs had obtained in Panama, he was contacted by former Smithsonian Secretary Alexander Wetmore who was engaged in preparing a monograph of the birds of Panama. Storrs first visited Alex Wetmore and the National Museum of Natural History in 1967, and the contacts developed then led to a summer job in 1968 under Richard Banks, in what was then the Fish and Wildlife Service, inventorying the skeleton collection in the Division of Birds. Following this he was employed from 1968 to 1969 as resident manager, under F. S. L. Williamson, director of the Smithsonian’s newly established Chesapeake Bay Center at Edgewater, Maryland. Through the connections between the Chesapeake Bay Center and Johns Hopkins University, Storrs was encouraged to apply to graduate school at Hopkins, where he matriculated at the School of Hygiene and Public Health in the Department of Pathobiology, headed by the eclectic and far-sighted Frederik Bang. With Smithsonian sponsorship, Storrs visited the remote South Atlantic islands of Ascension and St. Helena in 1970 and 1971, where he made important collections of fossil birds and many other items of natural history, which inspired subsequent expeditions by marine biologists because of all the novelties discovered on Ascension Island. Storrs completed his dissertation on the evolution of the rails of the South Atlantic islands and was awarded his ScD degree from Johns Hopkins in 1972. Meanwhile, he had moved into the National Museum of Natural History in August 1971 on a pre-doctoral fellowship, with the unstated intention of never leaving. He next held a presidential internship and then worked as part of S. Dillon Ripley’s research laboratory, completing a chapter on fossil rails for Ripley’s monograph of the Rallidae published in 1977. Storrs was hired as a curator in the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, in March 1975. He met his future wife, Helen James, in 1976 and they embarked on the first of dozens of trips to explore for fossil birds in the Hawaiian Islands in 1977. Their joint exposition of the diversity of the pre-human avifauna of the archipelago has been one of the milestones of systematic ornithology in the past century. Storrs has also conducted fieldwork in the West Indies, Bermuda, South Africa, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Spain, and Argentina, as well as additional work in Panama and the South Atlantic islands. His more than 300 publications treat modern and fossil birds from all parts of the world and all time periods. Storrs was elected to membership in the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 2001.

He was known to friends and colleagues as an excellent cook and connoisseur of fine and adventurous dining. He applied his scientific dissecting skills to his culinary efforts and treated his guests to a sampling of all parts of fish, fowl, or mammal, and the occasional reptile.

He is survived by his wife Johanna of Fredericksburg, whom he married in 2016, daughter Sydney Olson of Bangor Maine, son Travis Olson and granddaughter Linnea of Portland, Maine, and sister Susan Wallace-Olson of Tallahassee, Florida.

The Storrs Olson Prize is awarded by the Editor for the best book review published in each volume of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (beginning with volume 120).

More on Storrs, including his body of research, here.

The Wilson Ornithological Society is now accepting applications for the 2021 Research Grant competition. See below for more information, application instructions, and submission links. Applications are due February 1st, 2021.

Please direct specific inquiries regarding grant applications to Dr. Letty Reichart, reichartlm@unk.edu. We look forward to receiving your applications!

This information is also listed on our permanent Research Grants webpage:  https://wilsonsociety.org/awards/research-grants/

Each year, the Wilson Ornithological Society offers five categories of research grants. The focus of each differs somewhat, as does the amount of the award. Willingness to report results of the research as an oral or poster paper at an annual meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society within the next 5 years and a brief write-up and a photograph of the awardees for the webpage is also a condition of all grants.

Applicants should be current WOS members or willing to become members of WOS.

Application instructions for 2021 award are available here as a PDF for download.

Applicants are asked to submit their proposals electronically to the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/6bD9CTeL8WQFyWgdA

Please have your adviser or another person familiar with your research upload a pdf letter of recommendation online at the following link: https://forms.gle/UVGiQvEXQy9M1F6h7

Deadline for applications and recommendations: 1 February 2021

Louis Agassiz Fuertes Grant

The Wilson Society’s most prestigious award is available to all ornithologists, although graduate students and young professionals are preferred. Any avian research is eligible. Up to two awards of $2500 are given annually.

George A. Hall / Harold F. Mayfield Grant

This award is limited to independent researchers without access to funds and facilities available at colleges, universities, or governmental agencies, and is restricted to non-professionals, including high school students. Any kind of avian research is eligible. Up to one $1000 award is given. Formerly known as the Margaret Morse Nice Award

Wilson Ornithological Society Research Grants

Up to four awards of $1500 are given annually, for work in any area of ornithology. Two of these awards will be limited to research by Masters students.

Paul A. Stewart Grants

Preference will be given to proposals for studies of bird movements (based on banding, radio or satellite telemetry, or similar methods) or an emphasis on economic ornithology. Up to four awards of $1000 are given annually.

Wind energy is an important technology as society moves toward identifying green sources of energy. However, wind turbines can cause a negative impact on local wildlife, including bird and bat fatalities, which occur when they collide with rotating turbine blades. In a recently released study, “Eagle fatalities are reduced by automated curtailment of wind turbines,” in the Journal of Applied Ecology, researchers from The Peregrine Fund, Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., and the U.S. Geological Survey, tested an automated computer vision system called IdentiFlight. This system is designed to use cameras and machine learning to detect eagles near turbines, so turbines can be shut off, reducing fatalities of eagles at wind energy sites. Use of the new IdentiFlight system resulted in an 82% reduction of eagle fatalities.

IdentiFlight is an automated curtailment system consisting of cameras and software programmed for detecting flying objects, classifying them, and stopping turbines from spinning when an eagle is at threat of collision. The study to test IdentiFlight was performed at Duke Energy Renewables’ Top of the World Windpower facility in Wyoming, USA and included before and after studies as well as control and treatment sites. The research determined that the number of fatalities at the treatment site declined by 63% between the before and after periods of testing IdentiFlight while fatality numbers increased at the control site by 113%. These estimates are corrected for seasonal and site-specific variation in rates of detection of eagle carcass and rates of removal of carcasses by scavengers.

Dr. Chris McClure, Director of Global Conservation Science at The Peregrine Fund and lead author on this study, concludes, “These results show that using the IdentiFlight system can lessen numbers of fatalities of eagles at wind energy facilities, reducing the conflict between wind energy and raptor conservation.”

Dr. Todd Katzner of the U.S. Geological Survey adds, “It is important to note that while this technology significantly reduced eagle collisions, it did not completely eliminate them. Next steps could include partnering this technology with other mitigation actions, such as avoiding construction of turbines in high-risk areas for wildlife conflict.”

“IdentiFlight was excited to see independent verification that our technology protects wildlife and supports power production from renewable sources,” said Carlos Jorquera, chief technology officer for IdentiFlight.  “One of the advantages of the IdentiFlight system is its ability to learn from the massive amounts of data that it collects daily from eagles and other protected bird species around the world.  By leveraging artificial intelligence technologies such as machine-learning and convolutional neural networks, the system continuously improves as the data set grows. We are very excited and confident for IdentiFlight to continue to demonstrate dramatic improvements in its efficacy as we enter the new year.”

“Based on our early evaluation of the IdentiFlight technology, anecdotally we were convinced that it would greatly reduce eagle fatalities at our Top of the World Windpower project in Wyoming. This independent research confirms our earlier predictions and shows how the technology can effectively perform over an extended period of time,” said Tim Hayes, environmental director with Duke Energy Renewables. “It is our mission to reduce impacts to wildlife while generating affordable, clean energy for the communities we serve. IdentiFlight is just one way we support the environment in which our renewable energy projects operate.” 

Dr. McClure says, “As this technology continues to develop and improve, it has the potential to greatly impact raptor conservation around the globe. This is important because we know that more than half of the world’s raptors have declining global populations, and energy infrastructure continues to grow at a rapid rate in places like sub-Saharan Africa where the majority of Endangered and Critically Endangered Vultures are at high risk of collision.”

CONTACT

Erin Katzner, Director of Global Engagement

(208) 362-8277 direct

(412) 606-1653 cell

(208) 362-3716 main

erinkatzner@peregrinefund.org

www.peregrinefund.org

IdentiFlight CONTACT                                                 Duke Energy Renewables CONTACT

Shelley Vierra                                                                 Jennifer Garber

Director of Marketing and Communications                   Corporate Communications

(720) 545-0982                                                               800-559-3853

shelley.vierra@identiflight.com                                       Jennifer.garber@duke-energy.com

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The Peregrine Fund was founded in 1970 to restore the then critically endangered Peregrine Falcon, which was subsequently removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1999. That success encouraged the organization to expand its focus and apply its experience and understanding to raptor conservation efforts on behalf of 140 species in 66 countries worldwide, including the Bald Eagle, California Condor, and Aplomado Falcon in the United States. The Peregrine Fund changes the future for nature and humanity by conserving birds of prey worldwide. Whether the threat is poisoning, habitat loss, human persecution, or any other cause, we use sound science to tackle the most pressing conservation issues head-on.  We accomplish high impact results by preventing raptor extinctions, protecting areas of high raptor conservation value, and addressing landscape-level threats impacting multiple species. As a catalyst for change, we inspire people to value raptors and take action, and we invest in tomorrow's conservation leaders.  By working with communities around the world to protect the wildlife and habitats on which they depend, we are able to create lasting conservation results while improving people’s ways of life.  Support for our work comes from individual donors, corporations, foundations, and government grants.

Wilson Ornithological Society is accepting nominations for our 2021-2024 Councilor class. Every year 3 new councilors are elected to three year terms where they serve along with the WOS Executive Committee to lead and manage the society. Nominations of self or others are welcome.

Nominations need to include the person’s name, affiliation, email address and a short description of their work, and can be sent to Joel Ralston (jralston@saintmarys.edu) by February 1st, 2020.

Announcing the 2021 Wilson and AFO joint meeting to be held in conjunction with the Northeast Natural History Conference.

15-18 April

https://www.eaglehill.us/NENHC_2021/NENHC2021.shtml

Proposals for workshops, sessions, special events now open!

Deadlines: Feb 24 for workshops, special events.

Deadline for organized sessions: Jan 29. Guidelines here: https://www.eaglehill.us/NENHC_2021/callforsessions.shtml

Whether you are Canadian, American or from somewhere else, you are receiving this email because I know you to be someone who cares about wildlife!   For the last five years, I have been heading a national team of folks who wish to see the Canada Jay anointed officially by our federal government as our country’s national bird.    While the bird was proclaimed the winner of the ‘contest’ run by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society four years ago and despite the fact that many Canadians now consider it to be our national bird, we have thus far not been able to convince the federal government to take that final step and ratify it in parliament. 

Why do we need a national bird?  Well, I will not bore you with a list of all the good things that birds do for humans but allow me to say this.  According to Wikipedia, 106 of the world’s 195 countries have official birds.   The Americans treasure their national bird – the Bald Eagle!   But Canada is not listed -- we do not have one!   Yet our country does have national symbols – the beaver, the maple tree, and two sports.  We’ve even got a national horse!   But alas --- no official bird. 

It is the Team’s firm belief that one could not find a more Canadian bird than the aptly named Canada Jay!    This smart corvid breeds in every province and territory and its range almost mirrors our country’s borders.  It is extremely friendly, often landing on an outstretched palm even without food, and is among the hardiest of all of our birds, staying year-round in our country and sometimes incubating eggs at -30 degrees C!    It is not hunted or killed for any reason and its popular name, whiskyjack, originates from our First Nations people.  Best of all, it has not yet been chosen to represent any geographical entity, unlike the common loon (Ontario) and the snowy owl (Quebec)!   As for wildlife conservation, the Canada Jay presents itself as an excellent ‘poster child’ for our boreal forests, for our national and provincial parks, and for climate change.  It not only depends on our boreal forests but also on our cold winters to keep its stored food from rotting. 

A small promotional book entitled “The Canada Jay as Canada’s National Bird?” authored by eight of us will be mailed to federal politicians this coming March; Robert Bateman has written the Foreword.  We are also launching a web site to accompany the book’s release.  Most important, Senator Diane Griffin is going to put forth a ‘motion’ on this matter to the Senate after the book’s release and with much media attention.   The Society of Canadian Ornithologists has unanimously endorsed the Canada Jay and the Board of Directors of Birds Canada (I served on it for the last six years) also unofficially supports the bird. 

What can you do, at this moment in time, for the cause?    Well, something very simple…..just sign the petition at the following link: https://www.change.org/Repatriate_the_Canada_Jay (yes, I know that it is worded weirdly but it was originally used in a petition to get the old name back).    If you want to do more than that, you can donate anywhere from $2 to $50 to Change.org to broadcast the petition to even more Canadians or….. you can forward this message via social media to your friends and colleagues…or both.  

Yes, I am aware that Canadians (and particularly our elected officials) have far more important things to do during this terrible pandemic and our collapsing economy.   We are not looking for them to do something right now, but we are merely asking them to give some strong consideration to making an announcement of intent to make the Canada Jay our national bird by July 1, 2021, Canada’s next birthday.  Goodness knows that Canadians need some good news these days and certainly some lighter fare in our newspaper, radio and TVs.  

Official NABC Bird Banding Workshop

Description:

NABC is back at Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society, located in the mystic Maya Mountains of Belize, this course is sectioned into two stages.

Workshop: Takes place 21-25 March 2021, arrival on 20th March, departure 26th March.

Composing of primarily field-based instructions, which includes recapping the understanding of Plye, molt strategies, mist netting, bird extraction, processing, banding and principled ethics of the NABC.

Certification: Takes place 26-27 March 2021, arrival 25th March, departure 28th March.

Certify, for Assistant Bander, Bander or Trainer through a series of examination processes led by qualified instructors of the North American Banding Council (NABC)

Fees:

900 USD                         5-day workshop only

400 USD                         2-day certification only

1350 USD                       7-day workshop and certification

Please contact us at registration@ecorana.ca to register

Course is hosted in an open-air facility with small groups (max. 4 per trainer) at T.R.E.E.S Research Center, Covid Safe Gold Standard approved.

Qualifications:

No experience needed however experience working in bird banding, extracting and/or avian handling is advised, with 30 + hours bird banding experience highly suggested. Hours and experience will not be logged during this course however it is recommended participants show confidence, experience and understanding before undertaking certification.

Assistant bander: Perfect for budding biologists/ecologists and birders of some experience in bird banding and mist net set up.

Bander: Suitable for experienced biologists and birders who have worked at bird banding stations longer than 6 months

Trainer: Suitable for Banders with many years’ experience in banding and running their own station.

See www.nabanding.net for more information.

Baylor prof Fred Gehlbach, last of 'old-time naturalists,' dies at 85

Fred Gehlbach, a longtime Baylor University biology professor, died this week after a lifetime sharing his explorations of owl behavior and the hidden connections of nature with students, readers and the Waco community.

Gehlbach, 85, died Monday after several years of declining health.

Gehlbach was known primarily as an ornithologist and a leading expert on Eastern screech owls, winning a special award this year from the World Owl Hall of Fame. He studied a single colony of screech owls for more than 40 years near his home in Woodway, where he established a 15-acre wildlife preserve after coming to Baylor in 1963.

But his wide-ranging research also led him to publish scholarly accounts of reptiles, fish, plants and even fossils. Even in his 70s, Gehlbach was exploring the Amazon and the Arizona deserts, consulting with Cameron Park Zoo and writing regular columns on ecology for the Tribune-Herald.

“I would say he was one of the last of the old-time naturalists, as well as being up to date on more modern ecological things,” said Owen Lind, professor emeritus in Baylor’s biology department.

Lind, who was hired on at Baylor as an aquatic biologist a few years after Gehlbach, said Gehlbach brought new life to an insular department. It was Gehlbach who got students out in the field and promoted “the idea that as a scholar you need to have the ability to get out and do some research,” he said.

Gehlbach retired from the biology department in 1995 but was later reappointed as a research professor, serving into the 2010s.

Professor Robert Doyle, associate chair of the biology department, said biologists have become increasingly specialized in recent decades, but Gehlbach’s broad knowledge made a lasting stamp on the biology department. He said Gehlbach’s ecological way of thinking was in fact ahead of its time.

“I took an ecology course in the 1970s from him, and I remember the extraordinary eye-opening experience of just walking through the woods and having him stop and talk about grasses and acorns and squirrels,” Doyle said. “He could hear if there was an owl nearby. His breadth of knowledge was extraordinary.”

Gehlbach was also a frequent speaker at community and school events and consulted on the Cameron Park Zoo’s Brazos River Country exhibit, which opened in 2005 to showcase Texas fauna.

Deputy zoo director Johnny Binder said Gehlbach was involved with the zoo and its predecessor, Central Texas Zoo, for decades. As a herpetologist, Binder has long relied on reference books on reptiles co-authored by Gehlbach.

“He has helped us with horticulture, history and natural history,” he said. “He was an amazing guy.”

Binder said Gehlbach’s close observations paid off. For example, by studying the Woodway owl colony, he figured out why owls catch blind snakes and take them to their nests.

“(The snakes) would eat the maggots out of their nests, and that would make the chicks healthier,” he said.

A native of Ohio, Gehlbach earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. While at Michigan he met his wife, Nancy, who would be his partner in research for decades to come.

In the 1970s, Fred Gehlbach won a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the ecosystems of the U.S.-Mexico border. Fred and Nancy loaded their two young children, Mark and Gretchen, into a Volkswagen bus and spent a year traveling from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean.

The resulting book was “Mountain Islands and Desert Seas,” which entwined personal narrative and an authoritative description of the landscape and ecology.

Through his professional life and writing, Gehlbach stressed that the web of life was under strain from human development and climate change.

“It’s all one system,” he said in a 2010 interview. “We are living in a one-world circle of life, but we are endangering it big-time.”

No memorial service has been announced, but Gehlbach’s ashes will be scattered at three sites: The Sugar Creek preserve in Waco, the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas and the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona.

How a scientific spat over how to name species turned into a big pl... https://phys.org/news/2020-07-scientific-spat-species-big-nature.html

Home / Biology / Ecology JULY 27, 2020

How a scientific spat over how to name species turned into a big plus for nature

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-scientific-spat-species-big-nature.html

by Stephen Garnett, Les Christidis, Richard L. Pyle and Scott Thomson, The Conversation

Taxonomy, or the naming of species, is the foundation of modern biology. It might sound like a fairly straightforward exercise, but in fact it's complicated and often controversial.

Why? Because there's no one agreed list of all the world's species. Competing lists exist for organisms such as mammals and birds, while other less well-known groups have none. And there are more than 30 definitions of what constitutes a species. This can make life difficult for biodiversity researchers and those working in areas such as conservation, biosecurity and regulation of the wildlife trade.

In the past few years, a public debate erupted among global taxonomists, including those who authored and contributed to this article, about whether the rules of taxonomy should be changed. Strongly worded ripostes were exchanged. A comparison to Stalin was floated.

But eventually, we all came together to resolve the dispute amicably. In a paper published this month, we proposed a new set of principles to guide what one day, we hope, will be a single authoritative list of the world's species. This would help manage and conserve them for future generations.

In the process, we've shown how a scientific stoush can be overcome when those involved try to find common ground.

How it all began

In May 2017 two of the authors, Stephen Garnett and Les Christidis, published an article in Nature. They argued taxonomy needed rules around what should be called a species, because currently there are none. They wrote: "For a discipline aiming to impose order on the natural world, taxonomy (the classification of complex organisms) is remarkably anarchic […] There is reasonable agreement among taxonomists that a species should represent a distinct evolutionary lineage. But there is none about how a lineage should be defined."

Species are often created or dismissed arbitrarily, according to the individual taxonomist's adherence to one of at least 30 definitions. Crucially, there is no global oversight of taxonomic decisions—researchers can 'split or lump' species with no consideration of the consequences.

Garnett and Christidis proposed that any changes to the taxonomy of complex organisms be overseen by the highest body in the global governance of biology, the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), which would "restrict […] freedom of taxonomic action."

An animated response

Garnett and Christidis' article raised hackles in some corners of the taxonomy world—including coauthors of this article.

These critics rejected the description of taxonomy as "anarchic." In fact, they argued there are detailed rules around the naming of species administered by groups such as the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. For 125 years, the codes have been almost universally adopted by scientists.

So in March 2018, 183 researchers—led by Scott Thomson and Richard Pyle—wrote an animated response to the Nature article, published in PLoS Biology.

They wrote that Garnett and Christidis' IUBS proposal was "flawed in terms of scientific integrity […] but is also untenable in practice." They argued: "Through taxonomic research, our understanding of biodiversity and classifications of living organisms will continue to progress. Any system that restricts such progress runs counter to basic scientific principles, which rely on peer review and subsequent acceptance or rejection by the community, rather than third-party regulation."

In a separate paper, another group of taxonomists accused Garnett and Christidis of trying to suppress freedom of scientific thought, likening them to Stalin's science advisor Trofim Lysenko.

Finding common ground

This might have been the end of it. But the editor at PLoS Biology, Roli Roberts, wanted to turn consternation into constructive debate, and invited a response from Garnett and Christidis. In the to and fro of articles, we all found common ground.

We recognized the powerful need for a global list of species—representing a consensus view of the world's taxonomists at a particular time.

Such lists do exist. The Catalog of Life, for example, has done a remarkable job in assembling lists of almost all the world's species. But there are no rules on how to choose between competing lists of validly named species. What was needed, we agreed, was principles governing what can be included on lists.

As it stands now, anyone can name a species, or decide which to recognize as valid and which not. This creates chaos. It means international agreements on biodiversity conservation, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), take different taxonomic approaches to species they aim to protect.

We decided to work together. With funding from the IUBS, we held a workshop in February this year at Charles Darwin University to determine principles for devising a single, agreed global list of species.

Participants came from around the world. They included taxonomists, science governance experts, science philosophers, administrators of the nomenclatural (naming) codes, and taxonomic users such as the creators of national species lists.

The result is a draft set of ten principles that to us, represent the ideals of global science governance. They include that:

the species list be based on science and free from "non-taxonomic" interference

all decisions about composition of the list be transparent

governance of the list aim for community support and use

the listing process encompasses global diversity while accommodating local knowledge.

The principles will now be discussed at international workshops of taxonomists and the users of taxonomy. We've also formed a working group to discuss how a global list might come together and the type of institution needed to look after it.

We hope by 2030, a scientific debate that began with claims of anarchy might lead to a clear governance system—and finally, the world's first endorsed global list of species.

Making a list of all creatures, great and small

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Dr. H. Ross Hawkins

June 9, 1939 to July 9, 2020

We are saddened to announce the death of  Dr. H. Ross Hawkins. Ross was in Hospice of the Valley for five days in Scottsdale, Arizona, and died at 81 of complications from an aortic aneurysm.

Ross lived a ‘hummingbird-inspired’ and ‘joy-filled’ life. As Founder and Executive director of the International Hummingbird Society headquartered in Sedona, Arizona,  he touched many lives in the community with his unwavering enthusiasm for and deep knowledge of hummingbirds. This wealth was shared through the seven years of the successful Society-sponsored Sedona Hummingbird Festival that brought hummingbird lovers to Sedona from every state and 12 different countries.

Ross liked to say that he had a checkered past, as he began his career as a chemist, with a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and was employed as a research scientist for E. I. DuPont de Nemours in Wilmington, Delaware for 9 years.  Too gregarious to work in seclusion forever, he changed careers and became an investment advisor and worked as Vice President in investments for Morgan Stanley, retiring after 22 years.

In 1987, he married Beth Kingsley Hawkins, who shared her love of hummingbirds with him, and in 1996, while still working in Delaware. he founded the non-profit Hummingbird Society. Upon his retirement in 2006, they left Maryland (a state where the Ruby-throated hummingbird was the only nesting species and it didn’t stay for the winter) and moved to Sedona, with its abundance of hummingbirds. Traveling to learn about and photograph hummingbirds in their natural habitat, they made eight trips to Trinidad and Tobago and one to Costa Rica.  Ross himself made two trips to Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile to study the endangered Juan Fernandez Firecrown (hummingbird) and one to Honduras, hoping to and succeeding in finding expanded habitat for the Honduran Emerald hummingbird.

Few people know the back story of how he received the idea to create the Society. Michael Godfrey, Arthur Godfrey’s son, had made a definitive video of the hummingbirds up close in Arizona. As Ross spoke with him about it, Michael lamented that there wasn’t a Hummingbird Society and suggested maybe Ross was the one to create it. That was an AHA moment for Ross. The idea took root. He was shocked to learn that there was no organization to protect these tiny jewels. Once off the phone, Ross took a big blank white chart, drew a wheel with the Society at the center and spokes out from the center naming all the things he would need to know and do to found a non-profit, and the Hummingbird Society was born.  He then proceeded to put feet under his dream, defining a mission to help people understand and appreciate hummingbirds and to provide a channel to help save the ones that are endangered. Of 365 species of hummingbirds, 39 of the ones found in Central and South America are endangered. He summed up the purpose of the Society in this way: it is to teach people about hummingbirds, so they will understand them better; knowing that from that understanding and caring, will come support for their protection. In this way Ross connected many people more intimately with nature and created a way for many people to express that love.

If you knew Ross, you know how much he loved speaking and teaching about these precious flying gems, and he became certified as a Professional Speaker by the National Speaker’s Association in 2010. He also relished nature photography and he and Beth were  charter members of the North American Nature Photographer’s Association. They also joined the local Northern Arizona Audubon Society. In addition, he was a resonant baritone and an enthusiastic member of the local barbershop group, Harmony on the Rocks. With diverse musical tastes, he and Beth also sang the magnificent O Magnum Mysterium  with the composer Morten Lauridsen conducting.

Ross was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dero B. and Mary E. Hawkins, Ross was preceded in death by his younger brother, Gary Hawkins. Ross grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is survived by his devoted wife Beth Kingsley Hawkins of Sedona, and his two amazing daughters;  Sandra West, and her husband Mike West of Lakewood, Colorado, and Anita Hawkins and her husband Rev. Craig Cowing of Rocky Hill, Connecticut.

Donations to continue the valuable conservation work of the Society are welcomed in honor of Ross, its founder, as we seek to find and fund a new director. To donate, go to www.hummingbirdsociety.org  and click on the button that reads, Join, renew or donate.

 In addition, the family would value help for the funeral expenses, since Beth’s Sedona Hummingbird Gallery has been closed since March, due to the risk of the Covid virus   A contribution in that regard would go to Beth Kingsley Hawkins P. O. Box 20398, Sedona, AZ 86341. We are grateful for your support.

For several years, word has been circulating about an international effort to reconcile the differences among various taxonomic checklists of birds. In response Frank Gill and David Donsker initiated discussions amongst the various checklist compilers on the possibility of developing a single, consistent checklist of all the birds of the world. 

As the IOU notice explains, "The International Ornithologists’ Union (IOU) has formed the Working Group on Avian Checklists (WGAC) with a broadened purpose and function. Its primary purpose will be to produce and maintain on the IOU website an open-access global checklist of birds in the mould of the great Peters-Mayr checklist of the 20th century and intended to serve as the benchmark reference for all taxa of the class Aves. Eminent representatives of the international community of professional avian systematists will compile and maintain it. 

Australian ornithologist Les Christidis, who will chair the executive committee of the working group, reports, "There is now a team working on a unified world checklist of birds. It is under the auspices of the IOU and involves the teams currently working on the IOC List, Clements, e-bird, Avibase and Cornell's Birds of the World. The IOC list will continue to be updated while the working group develops the new list in the background. Things are finally beginning to move forward."

The final checklist will produce more than just a hierarchical list of species and recommended names. It will provide, through its detailed fields and connections to external references, the basic information for all ornithology – professional ornithologists, citizen scientists, conservationists and students – to draw on the full record of diversity of earth’s birdlife.  

NEWS RELEASE (from The Peregrine Fund)

For immediate release, 17 June 2020

To save a species from extinction we must know that it exists

Boise, Idaho - A new study shows that there is substantial disagreement among scientists on the number of species of birds, which prevents accurate decision making for prioritizing conservation efforts. The study, “Toward reconciliation of the four world bird lists: Hotspots of disagreement in taxonomy of raptors,” uses birds of prey as an example for why this problem requires immediate resolution. Birds of prey represent approximately 5.5% of the world’s bird species, but are significant in this discussion because roughly 52% of raptors have declining global populations.

The lead researcher for this effort, Dr. Chris McClure of The Peregrine Fund says, “A place may or may not be deemed a priority for protection depending on the number of recognized species in the area. So we decided to compare the four most widely used world bird lists that scientists use and found that, among raptors, there was only 68% consistency in the species recognized across all four lists. That’s not very consistent and could lead to confusion among conservation practitioners and government agencies.”

The four most widely used lists for recognized bird species include 1) the IOC World Bird List which is used by the international ornithological journal IBIS, 2) the Howard and Moore Checklist of the Birds of the World, which is used by several major museums around the world, 3) the eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, which is used by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the implementation of all of their programs, and finally 4) the Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International Digital Checklist of the Birds of the World, which is followed by BirdLife International when determining the Red List of Threatened Species and for several international agreements.

McClure adds, “If this all sounds a bit confusing, that’s because it is. In fact the differences between the four world bird lists was recently referred to as ‘taxonomy anarchy.’”

Dr. Jeff Johnson of the University of North Texas’s Department of Biological Sciences explains the problem from a conservation perspective, “Typically conservation efforts are focused on saving species, however subspecies can provide considerable genetic and ecological diversity.” Take the Cuban Kite, for example. This is a critically endangered raptor, but only considered a species on two of the four lists. The other two identify it as a subspecies of hook-billed kite, which is not considered to be threatened with extinction. While its current numbers are dangerously low, “losing the Cuban Kite entirely due to extinction would be a travesty,” according to Johnson. “Consistent recognition of the Cuban kite as a distinct species could help elevate its prominence and thereby increase efforts for its conservation.”

Dr. Thomas Schulenberg of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, “In this study we looked at the ‘hotspots of disagreement’ between the four lists. We found that there’s a lot of disagreement about owls, particularly in southern Asia. More broadly, the classification of raptor species is not well aligned across the high diversity regions of Indonesia, India, and China.”

Dr. Denis Lepage of Birds Canada says, “The bottom line is that, if we want to conserve birds, including raptors, working together to develop a single world bird list would go a long way.”  According to McClure, efforts are now being discussed to consolidate the four lists, but no official announcement has been made concerning when that may happen. “Oftentimes, taxonomic research is not well funded,” lamented Lepage, “but this study demonstrates that a concerted effort is critical for conservation of biodiversity. This is too important to not give our best effort.”

This study was a collaboration between the University of North Texas, Birds Canada, Boise State University, Ornithologi, Southern Cross University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Michigan State University, and The Peregrine Fund.