Fern Davies

This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 12 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including Ornithology Exchange and the Ornithological Council! 314 Action is a nonprofit founded by members of the STEM community, grassroots supporters and political activists. Why 314 Action? Pi is everywhere. It’s the most widely known mathematical ratio both inside and out of the scientific community. It is used in virtually everything we encounter in our daily lives. 314 Action is concerned that STEM education in the United States is falling further and further behind the rest of the world, that our political leaders continue to deny scientific facts and that Congress fails to fully fund scientific research so we can solve pressing environmental issues like climate change and social problems like gun violence. 314 ACTION’S GOALS ARE: Strengthen communication among the STEM community, the public and our elected officials; Educate and advocate for and defend the integrity of science and its use; Provide a voice for the STEM community on social issues; Promote the responsible use of data driven fact based approaches in public policy; Increase public engagement with the STEM Community through media. 314 Action champions electing more leaders to the U.S. Senate, House, State Executive and Legislative offices who come from STEM backgrounds. We need new leaders who understand that climate change is real and are motivated to find a solution. We need elected officials who understand that STEM education is the new path forward, vital for our future and will ensure that our educators have the necessary funding to teach STEM curricula and our students have the resources to learn. That is why 314 Action will advocate for a quality, adequately funded STEM education for every young person in the United States.

This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 12 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including Ornithology Exchange and the Ornithological Council! NOTE: The FB group is closed but already has 550,000+ members. If you haven't been added, please contact the OC and we will add you. Or just go to the FB and request to be added. By now, at least a dozen of your friends and colleagues are already there and someone will see the request and add you. Here's the website. Here's the public FB page you can follow: https://www.facebook.com/marchforscience/ From the Washington Post, 25 January 2017: The next big march on Washington could flood the Mall with scientists. It's an idea spawned on Reddit, where several scientists — concerned about the new president's policies on climate change and other issues, and hyped from the success of the Women's March on Washington — were discussing the best way to respond to what they feared would be an administration hostile to science.

https://images.membersuite.com/dd4aa278-0004-c61f-3c8d-0b3ba29e4c9b/26566/dd4aa278-001c-ccb1-5a40-0b3c4cb27494 The new OSNA Member Portal is now open and available for you to renew your society memberships. Renewing online is fast and convenient for you and helps us gather information to better serve you. The first step is to login to the new Member Portal and set up your account. Visit the OSNA Member Portal. To set up your account on your first visit to the OSNA Member Portal, click on Forgot Password under the Login boxes. Next, enter your Login ID, which is the email address where you received this message. You will receive an email to reset your password. When you click on the link in the email, this will take you to a page to enter a new password. Once you have done that, you will go to your personal Profile page (this is your home page.) If you have already set up your account, enter your Login ID, which is the email address where you received this message, and your password. You will go directly to your personal Profile page. Now that you've signed into your Profile page, you will see the option to "Join/Renew" in each of the four societies. Immediately below this, you can "View" all of your 2016 membership types. For further instructions that include useful screen shots, use this HELP document. If you still need assistance logging in, contact Scott Gillihan, OSNA Membership Manager: OSNAmembers@gmail.com; phone 312-883-4670. Next step, Join/Renew/Subscribe. On your Profile page, click "Join/Renew" or the respective society in the My Membership section of the Member Portal homepage. You will have the opportunity to make donations and add additional society memberships later in the renewal process. The Member Portal also offers new options for managing your memberships. These include: Honorary, Gratis and Awarded Memberships: Honorary, gratis and awarded memberships are added to member profiles directly by the OSNA societies. If this is your membership type, you may log into the OSNA Member Portal AUTOMATIC RENEWALS: During your renewal, on the second page after selecting your first society Membership Type, click "Please charge my credit card and automatically renew my membership" under Other Information. This will apply to all of your memberships. GO PAPERLESS: On your Profile page (this is your homepage), select "Edit My Information," and scroll down to Communication Preferences. Click on "Do Not Mail." to update your contact information, and join or renew memberships in other OSNA societies. Life Members: If you are a Life Member of one or more OSNA societies, you'll hear from the society(s) separately. You may log onto the OSNA Member Portal anytime to update your contact information, or to join or renew memberships in other OSNA societies. Life Memberships do not expire, so there is no need to renew them. If a Life Member wants to donate there are two options: If you are a Life Member of one or more societies, and a Regular member of others, or if you want to join a new society, you can make a donation to any society when you renew your Regular membership or if you join a new society. If you are a Life Member of one or more societies and don not have any Regular memberships that need to new renewed, you can make a donation by clicking "Make a Donation" on the right side of the Profile pag e. The societies appreciate donations from our Life Members. Refer to the HELP document mentioned above if you have questions. As you review your renewal opportunities among all societies in which you choose to renew or join, we hope you consider making a donation to the OSNA societies - all need your support, and all deeply appreciate your generosity. If we do not hear from you in January (by updating your profile, making selections, and renewing), we will mail you a printed copy of the OSNA renewal form. As in the past, OSNA sends out several reminder emails and printed renewal notices during our Renewal Season if you have not yet renewed. YOUR MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS Your membership in any of the OSNA societies entitles you to the full benefits of those societies, which can be found on the society websites (links to all websites are below and on the OSNA Member Portal page.) Membership in any of the OSNA societies also entitles you to the OSNA electronic version of the Ornithological Newsletter (issued six times per year and the online version of the membership directory, The Flock. Orders for printed copies of Ornithological Newsletter can be placed when you renew your memberships. Members can access the current and historical electronic issues of the Ornithological Newsletter anytime, and download PDF copies from the OSNA Member Portal, by clicking the "OSNA Newsletters" tab at the top of the page. During the OSNA transition, Ornithological Jobs will not be available on the OSNA Member Portal or on the OSNA website. Please use the job postings on Ornithology Exchange to post or search for jobs in ornithology. Please contact OSNA if you have questions: For questions about logging-in, your membership, missing journals and other issues contact Scott Gillihan, OSNA Membership Manager: OSNAmembers@gmail.com; phone 312-883-4670. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, The Condor: Ornithological Applications, Studies in Avian Biology, and Ornithological Monographs : Michigan State University, 31 July - 5 August 2017 Publications www.americanornithologypubs.org Association of Field Ornithologists Raptor Research Foundation Wilson Ornithological Society Website www.raptorresearchfoundation.org Journal of Raptor Research www.bioone.org/loi/rapt 2017 Annual Meeting: Salt Lake City, Utah USA 8-12 November 2017 Ornithological Council Members of OSNA societies also benefit from the important services of the Ornithological Council (OC). The OC provides ornithologists with a direct link to (1) government agencies that affect research (including permits, animal welfare, funding, data access policies, and more) and (2) decision-makers who need scientific information about birds to make sound decisions about bird conservation and management and other activities that affect birds. The OC is sponsored by 12 member societies across the Western Hemisphere and by individual ornithologists. Contributions to OC can be made during the renewal process in the OSNA Member Portal. CLICK ON THE DONATIONS BUTTON.

The Ornithological Council's Small Grants Program is concluding its fifth funding round. The program focuses on research that supports bird conservation projects in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean and gives priority to projects focused on resident species. As in years past, we received far more proposals worthy of funding than we could actually fund. This year, two awards were made. Glenda Denise Hevia of Argentina is conducting research on breeding physiology of and management actions for the Two-Banded Plover (Charadrius falklandicus) population in northern Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. Her work assesses how different levels of human disturbance impact plover breeders at the physiological level, throughout the assessment of reproductive parameters and the physical condition of the birds. This work will not only enhance the knowledge of the Two-banded Plover demography but will also support effective engagement with regional and local conservation actions to protect the breeding population. Isabel Raymundo Gonzalez of Mexico is developing a "participatory monitoring" project, similar to citizen science, to engage a local community in collecting data that will be used to inform management of a community-managed forest ("ejido") in Baja California. The site is used for harvesting Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera) and is also the potential site of a wind energy installation.

NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Melinda Pruett-Jones American Ornithological Society, Executive Director Email: mpruettjones@gmail.com Mobile: 312-420-2292 Date: 19 December 2016 American Ornithological Society Takes Flight: New Organization Dedicated to the Study and Conservation of Birds in the Americas CHICAGO, IL – December 19, 2016 – Two of the oldest and most influential professional ornithological societies in the world have legally merged, forming the American Ornithological Society (AOS), an organization devoted to advancing research focused on birds in the Western Hemisphere, promoting their conservation, and training the next generation of scientists. Nearly 3,000 members of the American Ornithologists' Union and the Cooper Ornithological Society approved the merger earlier this year in association with the North American Ornithological Conference held in Washington D.C. Under the leadership of executive director Melinda Pruett-Jones, AOS is based in Chicago at the Field Museum of Natural History. For more information on the new AOS and the merger process, visit www.AmericanOrnithology.org. “Over the past six years we have actively collaborated as separate organizations: meeting together, publishing our journals jointly and working together to benefit the conservation of birds. After fact-finding and due diligence, and in response to the tremendous positive feedback from our membership, I am proud to announce a single merged society that will advance ornithology by combining our assets – human, financial and intellectual,” said AOS president Steven Beissinger. The largest ornithological society in the Western Hemisphere, AOS produces scientific publications of the highest quality, hosts intellectually engaging and professionally vital meetings, serves ornithologists at every career stage, pursues a global perspective, and informs public policy on all issues important to ornithology and ornithological collections. AOS assets now exceed $10 million in support of ornithology, and it will invest nearly $1 million to advance its mission in its first year as a merged society. The new organization is undertaking new initiatives to help students, early professionals and international members and to address the needs of scientists, academics and conservation professionals in advancing knowledge, not only in the Western Hemisphere but across the globe. AOS also recently launched a program to encourage members to reach out to their local communities and showcase ornithology as a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field students might not have considered. “The society is redoubling past efforts to prepare future generations of scientists and conservation leaders. Success requires a multi-dimensional approach that integrates science, new technologies, public policy and citizen outreach; works with other ornithological and scientific communities; and collaborates with local, state, federal and international government entities,” said former American Ornithologists’ Union president Susan Haig, who began the merging effort in 2010. “AOS is distinguished by its tremendous collective expertise, eminent scientists, conservation practitioners, early career innovators, and students. The society will especially focus on attracting diversity in the profession,” said former Cooper Ornithological Society president Martin Raphael. The first meeting of the new AOS will be held July 31 to August 5, 2017 on the campus of Michigan State University. About the American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an international society devoted to advancing the scientific understanding of birds, enriching ornithology as a profession, and promoting a rigorous scientific basis for the conservation of birds. The AOS publishes two international journals—The Auk: Ornithological Advances, which has one of the highest scientific impact rankings among ornithological journals worldwide, and The Condor: Ornithological Applications. The AOS also publishes the book series —Studies in Avian Biology. The society’s checklists serve as the accepted authority for scientific nomenclature and English names of birds in North and Middle America, and in South America. The AOS also sponsors The Birds of North America Online in partnership with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. For more information, see www.americanornithology.org ###

IT’S ALL NEW! We are pleased to introduce AOS to the world next week. We open the redesigned society website, AmericanOrnithology.org, and will send out announcements through society social media and emails! Look for them! OSNA rolls out its new cloud-based membership management system, supported by MemberSuite, next week. You’ll receive an email from this system inviting you to the Member Portal where you’ll be able to login anytime, explore the site, and renew as a member of the new AOS. And, new this year—you can sign up for automatic annual renewals! Anytime, through MemberSuite, you will be able to: manage your membership profile information, indicate your interest in serving on AOS committees contribute to the society (even automate your contributions through regular payments from your credit or debit card); access the membership directory (‘The Flock’); order print copies of AOS journals; renew memberships in, or join, other OSNA societies. In the very near future, MemberSuite will allow you to perform various member actions: register for the annual meeting (discounted rates for AOS members) submit abstracts for workshops, symposia, contributed papers, and posters; apply for grants and awards that are available only to AOS members; nominate colleagues for honors and awards; pay page charges (reduced for AOS members) when publishing in AOS journals, the Auk and Condor; vote in annual elections. Questions? Hopefully you will find answers here in our AOS FAQs sheet. We are excited to introduce you to these new member services! Be sure to look for the email next week directing you to the new Member Portal. And, if you don’t see it in your inbox, be sure to check your Spam folder and check other email filters. If you need help accessing the portal, please contact Scott Gillihan at OSNAmembers@gmail.com, or by phone, at 312-883-4670. You may also contact me at 312-883-4645. We value your membership and your important work as ornithologists, and look forward to offering more services and benefits in the future. Sincerely, Crystal Ruiz AOS Administrator

This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 12 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including Ornithology Exchange and the Ornithological Council! Much noise is made - especially in election years - about shrinking the size of the federal workforce. At the Department of the Interior, the workforce has already been chopped by nearly 18% from a 2003 peak of 59,318 to 48,798 at the end of 2015. The cabinet-level agency houses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, and several other agencies and bureaus that are responsible for managing most of the federally managed public lands, conserving our birds, protecting endangered species, and much more. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - the agency that among other things issues MBTA and ESA permits to ornithologists and whose land management agencies issue permits to conduct research on federally managed public lands - peaked in 2003 with 8,448 on the payroll and now gets by with 7,501, a reduction of 11.2%. At the U.S. Geological Survey, where it sometimes seems that half the Reston HQ is vacant, the workforce dropped from 8,253 in 2002 to 6,502 and the end of 2015 (a drop of 21%). Apparently, there is less and less that we need to know in order to manage our natural resources on a scientific basis. And January 2017 will bring a hiring freeze. On top of years without pay increases (or very small increases), this increasing workload must make it challenging to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. The glow of civil service seems to be dimming. All the more reason for all of us to be grateful to those still standing! Source: http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/index.php

Your ornithological societies need your support if they are to continue providing the services that help you pursue your research and your careers. They provide journals to publish your research, grants to help fund your research, travel awards to help you attend professional meetings. They provide mentorships and academic and professional opportunities. They support the Ornithological Council, OrnithologyExchange, and myriad activities for ornithologists. How do you join or renew your membership? Please visit Membersuite for: American Ornithological Society (formerly AOU and COS) Association of Field Ornithologists Raptor Research Foundation Wilson Ornithological Society A special request: when you join one or more of these societies, please consider making a donation to the Ornithological Council. The OC provides ornithologists with a direct link to (1) government agencies that affect research (including permits, animal welfare, funding, data access policies, and more) and (2) decision-makers who need scientific information about birds to make sound decisions about bird conservation and management and other activities that affect birds. The OC is supported by its member societies across the Western Hemisphere and by individual ornithologists. Contributions to OC can be made when you join/renew one of these societies via the contributions page or if you decide not to join at society at this time, through the OC Paypal. Please visit Waterbird Society for Waterbird Society A special request: when you join the Waterbird Society, please consider making a donation to the Ornithological Council. The OC provides ornithologists with a direct link to (1) government agencies that affect research (including permits, animal welfare, funding, data access policies, and more) and (2) decision-makers who need scientific information about birds to make sound decisions about bird conservation and management and other activities that affect birds. The OC is supported by its member societies across the Western Hemisphere and by individual ornithologists. Contributions to OC can be made when you join/renew one of these societies via the Schneider Group renewal website or if you decide not to join at this time, through the OC Paypal. Please visit Society of Canadian Ornithologists for Society of Canadian Ornithologists A special request: when you join the SCO/SOC, please consider making a donation to the Ornithological Council. The OC provides ornithologists with a direct link to (1) government agencies that affect research (including permits, animal welfare, funding, data access policies, and more) and (2) decision-makers who need scientific information about birds to make sound decisions about bird conservation and management and other activities that affect birds. The OC is supported by its member societies across the Western Hemisphere and by individual ornithologists. Contributions to OC can be made through the OC Paypal.

Last night's meeting of the fellows of the AOU was the last meeting of the fellows of the AOU. The fellows voted to merge with the Cooper Ornithological Society and once the merger is complete, the new society will be called the American Ornithological Society. Over a century of ornithology for both societies comes to an end as a bright new era begins.

ModelWildlifeProtocol-2017-Update.pdfOrnithological Council and American Society of Mammalogists develop model protocol form for wildlife research...released in beta for feedback from researchers, animal care and use committee members, institutional officials, and others, this form is designed specifically for wildlife research conducted either in the field or in captivity. First question: Is this protocol even required? The Ornithological Council and the American Society of Mammalogists have developed a protocol form designed specifically for wildlife research conducted either in the field or in captivity. We recognized a need for this form as a result of feedback from the many researchers, institutional officials, animal care and use committee members, and attending veterinarians who comply with or implement the Animal Welfare Act compliance for studies of wildlife. Most institutions use a single form with few, if any, questions relevant to wildlife research, including the key question: "Is this project even covered under the Animal Welfare Act or the Public Health Service Policy?" Critical review of protocols involving wildlife research requires the use of appropriate standards. Standards and protocol forms not developed for wild animals cover many topics not pertinent to wildlife studies and omit topics central to such work. In order to conduct a more biologically appropriate review and achieve a greater level of meaningful welfare for the study animals IACUCs should ensure that protocol forms, standards, and reference materials are appropriate for the type of study under consideration. Given that there are two overlapping laws, administered by two different agencies, one (APHIS) with a set of implementing regulations and the other (PHS) with a non-regulatory but mandatory policy, we took care to construct this form in a manner that will guide the IACUC and the researcher to the pertinent laws and standards. A number of participants who attended the October 2011 conference in Albuquerque organized by the OC and the ASM volunteered to help create this form and suggested key topics and specific questions as well as overall approach. After reviewing numerous forms that were already in use, we were fortunate to be given a template created by John Martin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, later modified by John Bryan, DVM, a wildlife veterinarian with the National Park Service. After considerable review and revision, we are making this form available to IACUCs and researchers in a beta version, though it is fully useable as is. It is our hope that institutions and researchers will use this form, and that as they do so, they will take the time to suggest changes to us so that we can refine it to better meet the needs of both the researchers and the IACUCs. With this additional feedback from the field-testing, we hope to have a final version completed by the end of 2014. For institutions without a protocol designed specifically for studies involving wildlife, this document can serve as a stand-alone form. Institutions that already have a protocol form designed for wildlife may incorporate any portions of the form to complement their existing document. Institutions may also modify the form as you see fit, but we encourage them to let us know what changes they have made and why, as this will help us to improve the final product. We suggest that it would be most efficient to use SmartForms or other electronic options that automatically bypass questions that do not require additional input when the initial question was answered with a “no” or “not applicable.” Doing so will enable the researcher to move efficiently through the form. We also encourage institutions to take full advantage of the additional resources available to them when assessing wildlife protocols. These peer-reviewed documents include the taxon specific guidelines published by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the American Society of Mammalogists, and the Ornithological Council. These documents were formally recognized by NSF in December 2012 as appropriate standards for NSF funded research conducted on wild vertebrates and were also recognized by AAALAC International as Reference Resources. Development of this model protocol was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IOS 113273. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

August 4, 2016 Martin G. Raphael President, Cooper Ornithological Society 3625 93rd Ave SW Olympia, WA 98512 mraphael@fs.fed.us Dear COS Members, Thank you for taking the time to vote on our proposed Plan of Merger with the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) to form the American Ornithological Society (AOS). The votes have been tallied and the COS membership has approved the plan. We received over 700 votes, a response of more than 55% of members. Of those voting, more than 85% voted in favor of the Plan, approximately 10% voted against, and 2% withheld (abstained). The next step is for AOU to approve the Plan of Merger at the North American Ornithological Conference later this month. The AOU Articles of Incorporation and By-laws require this to be done by a vote of the AOU Fellows, which will take place at their annual meeting on 16 August 2016 at 4 pm. They will be asked to approve an update of the Articles of Incorporation under D.C. law, and By-laws changes to accommodate incorporating COS publications and renaming the AOU to the American Ornithological Society (AOS). I will be back in touch once that vote has been finalized and let you know more about the next steps in this historic process. Thank you again for taking the time to cast your vote. Sincerely, President, Cooper Ornithological Society

Modernizing Imports and Exports.pdf This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 12 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including Ornithology Exchange and the Ornithological Council! In recent months, the Ornithological Council has learned that the importing process has become considerably more challenging due to the development and implementation of a new Customs system called "ACE" or Automated Commercial Environment. Notwithstanding the name, it also applies to non-commercial imports. It is indeed automated and access to the online system for declaring imports (also known as "entries") is really designed for the community of commercial importers and customs brokers. Currently, ACE requires Customs declaration information. As of 23 July 2016, the APHIS import information will also be entered through ACE. Eventually, the USFWS information (i.e., the information required on a 3-177) will also be entered through ACE. In theory, then, this system will eventually simplify the import process (though both the USFWS and APHIS can still require physical inspections of imports if they wish to do so) by providing a single place to enter all required import declarations and related information. The Ornithological Council has been working with Customs and Border Protection, which has been fantastically helpful, to try to determine what, if anything, can be done to simplify the system for wildlife research imports. There are two types of entries - informal and formal. It seems to hinge on the value of the import and since yours have no commercial value, it would be the informal entry tier. Although both require the use of this ACE entry system, so not clear how classifying these as informal will solve the ACE entry problem. However, the information required for informal entry is apparently simpler and easier. Individuals can NOT register to use ACE and enter the data themselves (contrary to what we originally thought) In addition, you can file on paper. The Ornithological Council has obtained the forms and instructions and is working through "translating" the abbreviations and codes and explaining where to find the required info. However, it is not clear that you can use the paper forms at the airport. Based on the experience of one researcher last week, it seems that Customs at the airport holds the material and sends you elsewhere to file them and then you can retrieve your samples. Unless you live close to the airport where you entered the U.S., this is unworkable. And even if you do, what a pain and waste of time. Realize that this was a sample size of one. We don't know if this would be the case at every airport. Again, awaiting info from CBP on this. Meanwhile, the Ornithological Council has had a long and productive discussion with two customs brokerages. We are awaiting proposals for handling the imports and exports of the wildlife research community. The Ornithological Council will distribute it to the entire wildlife research community. These brokers are willing to develop the expertise to deal with the USFWS and APHIS paperwork and procedures (through a close working relationship with the Ornithological Council and SPNHC). The idea here is that if everyone uses this broker, there will be enough transactions that it will be worthwhile for them to develop the expertise to handle your shipments - including those moving on CITES permits, i.e., dealing with validation - with special care and attention to the agency-specific requirements. And of course, they would deal with this ACE entry system problem (which will apply to exports, too, in the future). Any customs broker could do that but the odds that any customs broker would have the requisite expertise to deal with the USFWS and APHIS complexities are slim because they just don't handle many transactions of this type. If you are an ornithologist and have an upcoming import, please feel free to contact the Ornithological Council for information and assistance with the ACE entry system or any other aspect of your import. We routinely create custom import checklists for researchers, from obtaining permits to making arrangements for the airport process.

Every ornithologist in the U.S. and Canada who studies live birds must submit animal welfare protocols to a review committee and await approval before beginning the research project. The Ornithological Council devotes a very substantial amount of time to this subject because it is so central to the research life of every ornithologist. The objective of this workshop is to help NAOC participants understand the animal welfare policies in the U.S. and Canada and be able to use this information to improve their own research protocols. Audience members will achieve a better understanding of the protocol review process and effective methods for working with the IACUC. Through structured discussion with audience, instructors will gain insights into wildlife biology including study design and field methodology. This is a unique opportunity to hold this workshop at no cost! Workshops of this type sponsored by universities, government agencies, and others typically carry registration fees of several hundred dollars. This is your opportunity to talk with the people who make the policies that your IACUC must implement. Learn from them and help them understand how wildlife biology is very different from the biomedical research for which their policies were intended. Topics to be covered: a) “IACUC 101”- An explanation of the animal welfare laws and policies in the U.S. and Canada. Key topics: Which policies and standards apply to any specific study? What is a field study? What constitutes an adequate literature search? b) Strategies to prepare a successful protocol. Key topics include: justification of sample size, resources, frequently encountered questions from the IACUC. c) Structured dialogue: Through scenarios developed (and distributed to participants in advance), discussion leaders and audience members will discuss actual field methods and conditions with the instructors and explore the animal welfare issues that arise in each situation DATE: Tuesday, August 16 TIME: 1 - 5 p.m. As with all workshops, be sure to plan your travel to arrive early enough to attend the workshops of your choice.

This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 12 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including Ornithology Exchange and the Ornithological Council! New Science Provides Foundation for Proposed Changes to Service’s Comprehensive Eagle Conservation and Management Program Public comment sought on revisions to bald and golden eagle regulations, programmatic environmental impact statement May 4, 2016 Contact(s): Laury Parramore Laury_parramore@fws.gov 703-358-2541 In a move designed to maintain strong protections for bald and golden eagles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced it is opening a 60-day public comment period on proposed improvements to the agency’s comprehensive eagle conservation and management program. The proposed changes include modifications to the regulations governing permits for incidental take of bald and golden eagles that will protect eagle populations during the course of otherwise lawful human activities. A simultaneous public comment period also opens on a related proposed programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS). This PEIS forms an integral part of the environmental review process for the changes to the eagle permitting program. The Service also made public a new report assessing the status, trends and resiliency of bald and golden eagle populations. The report underpins the proposed revisions to the conservation and management program. The Service is proposing the revisions to its bald and golden eagle regulations, which it administers under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act), in response to extensive public input since the original regulations were published in 2009. This includes comments received during a series of public information meetings. The proposed revisions build on that input and on an extensive review of the best available science. “Eagles hold a revered place in our nation’s history and culture, particularly that of Native Americans,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “The proposed regulations provide a path forward for maintaining stable or increasing eagle populations while also ensuring that limited and incidental take of eagles that occurs as a result of otherwise legal activity is tracked, permitted and, where possible, reduced.” The proposed rule sets objectives for eagle management, addresses how populations will be monitored and managed, directs how data on permitted eagle mortality are obtained and used, and provides a framework for how the incidental take permitting system fits within the overall framework of eagle management. The proposed regulations address the duration of permits for incidental take of eagles, extending the maximum permit duration to 30 years, subject to a recurring five-year review process throughout the permit life. Under the proposed revisions, only applicants who commit to adaptive management measures to ensure the preservation of eagles will be considered for permits with terms longer than five years. The Eagle Act requires the Service to determine that any take of eagles it authorizes is “compatible with the preservation of bald eagles or golden eagles,” known as the “preservation standard.” The Service defines the preservation standard to mean “consistent with the goal of maintaining stable or increasing breeding populations.” It underpins the Service’s management objectives for both species. The Service is proposing to add the clause “and the persistence of local populations, throughout the geographic range of both species” to more clearly define conservation and mitigation efforts at the local scale and respond to state, tribal and other stakeholder input into our eagle conservation programs. Other proposed provisions address compensatory mitigation requirements for golden eagles, application requirements, and a revised permit fee structure that will ensure the Service has adequate resources to implement effective eagle permitting and conservation. Non-purposeful or incidental take of eagles occurs throughout a range of industries, new and traditional. The system for permitting this take enables industries to work collaboratively and proactively with the Service to avoid, minimize and in some cases mitigate for their impact, while also providing critical data that can help the agency better track human causes of eagle mortality and manage eagle populations. “The permitting system provides a mechanism for private companies to do the right thing,” said Ashe. “Many companies are making efforts to avoid killing migratory birds during design, construction and operation of industrial facilities, and we look forward to working with additional permit applicants to ensure their operations are compatible with efforts to conserve eagles.” In its review of potential changes to the eagle conservation and management program, the Service relied on a significant body of current scientific data and findings, including its new report “Bald and Golden Eagles: Status, trends, and estimation of sustainable take rates in the United States.” The report is a compilation of the most current research on the population status and trends of bald and golden eagles and serves as the biological basis for the proposed regulation revisions and the preferred alternative in the PEIS. The bald eagle was once in danger of extinction in the lower 48 states, with fewer than 500 nesting pairs remaining. It was removed from the endangered species list in 2007 because populations had recovered sufficiently. Golden eagles are protected due to concerns about their status, their similarity of appearance to bald eagles, and their ecological value as apex predators in ecosystems where they occur. Both bald and golden eagles are protected under the Eagle Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act. The new eagle status report indicates bald eagle populations have continued to rise throughout the United States—now numbering in excess of 143,000. At the same time, data suggest golden eagle populations may be starting to decline, heightening the importance of securing critical conservation measures through permitting to protect this species. “For decades, the Service has demonstrated leadership and commitment to the conservation of bald and golden eagles,” said Ashe. “This rule recognizes the need to adapt eagle management to changes across the American landscape, including our own activities.” The public may submit comments on the proposed rule and the PEIS until July 5, 2016. Both the proposed rule and the PEIS are available at http://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/eagle-management.php and also at www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS–R9–MB–2011–0094. Comments on the information collection aspects of this rule must be received on or before July 5, 2016. Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods: (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS–R9–MB–2011–0094, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then click on the Search button. On the resulting page, you may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!” (2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R9–MB–2011–0094; Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. Comments on the Information Collection Aspects of the Proposed Rule: You may review the Information Collection Request online at www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the Interior collections under review by OMB. Send comments (identified by 1018–AY30) specific to the information collection aspects of this proposed rule to both the: Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB–OIRA at (202) 295–5806 (fax) or OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov (email); and Service Information Collection Clearance Officer; Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803 (mail); or hope_grey@fws.gov (email). See Public Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for more information regarding submission of comments.

20 MAY 2016 UPDATE: AOU and COS Members, Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us on the prospects of merging the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Cooper Ornithological Society. You can read a detailed summary of these results on the American Ornithology website http://americanornithology.org/content/aou-and-cos-merger-status. A clear message emerged from the poll that a vast majority of members wish to pursue merging the two societies, with 87% of the 614 respondents in favor. Support for merging was expressed strongly from members of both societies and across all age groups. Members were more varied in their opinions about a name for the merged organization. Nevertheless, members of both societies expressed a willingness to consider changing the name of the AOU, the receiving society, if the two societies merged. The COS Board of Directors met on 16 May 2016 to reflect on the member poll results, discuss the findings of the Joint AOU-COS Merger Working Group, and to reconsider their desire to engage in further merger discussions. The Board affirmed their position to pursue merging with AOU and transmitted it to the AOU Council. AOU Council met on 17 May 2016 held a similar discussion on merger issues in order to develop a response to COS. AOU Council was pleased that COS had voted to resume the effort and voted unanimously to restart merger discussions to resolve the remaining issues. Next steps will be to develop a formal plan of merger with further input from our members. To move this forward in advance of our upcoming annual Council and Board meetings, we will be on a swift timeline to reach resolution. Sincerely, Scott M. Lanyon President, American Ornithologists' Union University of Minnesota 1987 Upper Buford Circle St. Paul, MN 55108 612-624-6291 lanyo001@umn.edu President, Cooper Ornithological Society 3625 93rd Ave SW Olympia, WA 98512 360-753-7662 mraphael@fs.fed.us AOU and COS Members, We write to inform you of progress toward addressing the issues relating to merging our two societies and to ask for your input through a short, six-question online poll. AOU and COS leadership initiated discussions of merging the two societies in July 2016 when we met together in Oklahoma to review the progress and success of our partnerships: the joint publication of our journals, our joint communications and website http://www.americanornithology.org , our joint Science Arbitration initiative, and our joint meetings. A joint AOU-COS Merger Working Group was appointed at the Oklahoma meeting to move the discussion forward. Today we write to inform you that the Working Group has completed their report. It presents the potential advantages and disadvantages of merging, hurdles to merger and their resolution, and initial feedback about them from membership and leadership. The report can be found on our American Ornithology website here. Although the report is long, the Executive Summary produces a concise abstract of the Working Group’s findings. In short, most of the hurdles to merger can be addressed. The name of the merged organization is perhaps the most significant remaining issue. You can also help AOU and COS leadership to understand how our members think about the possibility of merging by answering 6 short questions in an online poll. We ask that you a few minutes to inform yourself about merger issues by reading the joint AOU-COS Merger Working Group report before you participate in the online poll, as this will help to inform your choices. The last day to record your preference in the poll is 13 May. Thanks very much for your participation. Sincerely, Scott M. LanyonPresident, American Ornithologists' Union University of Minnesota 1987 Upper Buford Circle St. Paul, MN 55108 612-624-6291 lanyo001@umn.edu President, Cooper Ornithological Society 3625 93rd Ave SW Olympia, WA 98512 360-753-7662 mraphael@fs.fed.us

Ornithology journal The Condor: Ornithological Applications is publishing a Special Section of open access articles highlighting the impact that energy development is having on North America’s bird populations. “Although renewable energy may offer a ‘greener alternative’ to traditional energy sources, mounting evidence suggests that renewable energy infrastructure and the power transmission lines needed to serve them may impact avian populations,” according to lead editor Jennifer Smith, a post-doctoral research associate at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. “Most avian-energy research has focused historically on direct effects of avian collision or electrocution with overhead power systems, and more recently on avian collisions at wind energy facilities. While research has expanded to consider indirect effects, large gaps in our knowledge persist.” The editors behind the Special Section hope to address these gaps by increasing our understanding of avian interactions with renewable energy infrastructures and identifying areas for future research. The collection of papers was inspired by symposia hosted at the 2014 joint meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union, the Cooper Ornithological Society, and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, and at the 2014 meeting of the Raptor Research Foundation. Topics addressed include: How wind energy infrastructure is impacting the reproductive success of Horned Larks and McCown’s Longspurs in Wyoming The effects of oil and gas development in Alberta and the Northwest Territories on Canada’s boreal birds Whether wind towers in the Great Plains region pose a risk to wintering Sandhill Cranes How migrating raptors alter their flight behavior in response to power line construction How energy development stacks up against other manmade threats to birds “Birds have complex interactions with energy infrastructure. The diverse papers in this Special Section evaluate threats that manifest themselves in different ways across species, landscapes, and types of infrastructure,” says Condor Editor-in-Chief Phil Stouffer. “With the expected trajectory of energy development, particularly renewable resources, it will become increasingly important to manage risks to wildlife. We hope ornithologists can inform decisions about energy development using information like we’re publishing here.” The six open access papers comprising the Special Section will be published April 20, 2016, and will be available at http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/2. For comment: Jennifer Smith, jensmith@vt.edu, 863-273-5335; Phil Stouffer, pstouffer@lsu.edu, 225-578-4221. About the journal: The Condor: Ornithological Applications is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology. It began in 1899 as the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Club, a group of ornithologists in California that became the Cooper Ornithological Society.

Ground-Level Artificial Lights Disrupt Bird Migration It’s not just lights on skyscrapers that can impact migrating birds—new research in The Condor: Ornithological Applications demonstrates that even ground-level artificial lights can affect birds passing overhead at night. Most birds migrate at night, and artificial light disrupts migrations in a variety of ways, throwing off birds’ natural navigation abilities and even attracting them to fatal collisions with buildings. The bulk of the research on how lights affect birds has been focused on lights on tall structures like skyscrapers and cell towers, but most artificial lights are actually near ground level—street lights, porch lights, and car headlights, to name just a few. Matt Watson, David Wilson, and Daniel Mennill of the University of Windsor recorded the flight calls of migrating birds passing overhead during the 2013 fall migration in southern Ontario, Canada, comparing sites with and without ground-level artificial lights. Analyzing 352 hours of recordings, including the calls of at least 15 bird species, they found that significantly more flight calls were recorded at lit sites than at dark sites. “By pointing microphones at the night sky, we can survey migratory birds based on the quiet sounds they produce in flight,” says Mennill. “This simple technique offers a special opportunity because we can resolve particular species of birds, or groups of species, using a fairly simple technology.” “It was exciting to find that even low-level anthropogenic lights affect call detections from migrating birds,” adds Watson. Their findings have several possible explanations—ground-level lights could be disorienting birds, causing them to call more often and decrease their altitude as they attempt to straighten themselves out, or they could actually be attracting additional birds, as has already been documented with higher-elevation lights. In either case, artificial lights are causing migrating birds to waste energy, which could affect their chances of surviving their journey. This study underscores importance of studying the consequences for wildlife when human activities alter the natural environment. “Anthropogenic light has profound effects on wild animals. For migratory birds, we know that lights on top of skyscrapers, communication towers, and lighthouses disorient and attract birds,” says Mennill. “Our study reveals for the first time that even low-intensity lights on the ground influence the behavior of migratory birds overhead.” Anthropogenic light is associated with increased vocal activity by nocturnally migrating birds will be available April 13, 2016, at http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/2. Research contact info: Daniel Mennill, dmennill@uwindsor.ca, 519-253-3000 ext. 4726.

Arctic-Nesting Birds May Struggle with Changing Climate Songbird nestlings in the Arctic struggle in cold, wet years, but the changes forecast by climate models may lead to even more challenging conditions, according to new research in The Auk: Ornithological Advances. Jonathan Pérez of the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues compared the growth rates of the nestlings of White-crowned Sparrows, which have a broad breeding range, with those of Lapland Longspurs, which are an Arctic breeding specialist. They predicted that nestlings would grow faster in warmer, drier conditions, that clutches laid earlier would do better, and that the nestlings of specialist longspurs would grow faster than the generalist sparrows. They found that growth rates were higher overall in 2013 than in 2014, when the weather was colder and wetter. There were also fewer arthropods, the birds’ food source, available in 2014. Longspur nestlings grew faster than sparrow nestlings both years, but sparrows were unaffected by temperature, perhaps because sparrows nest in shrubs rather than on the open tundra. Nestlings from clutches that were laid earlier did grow faster than those from later clutches, since birds that arrived on their breeding grounds early could claim the best territories for raising young. Challenging conditions force parents to make a choice between taking care of themselves and taking care of their offspring. Climate change is likely to bring new uncertainty for birds nesting in the Arctic—while warmer temperatures will favor higher nestling growth rates, climate models also predict more frequent storms and increased precipitation. The research was carried out on the North Slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range, where researchers tracked 110 White-crowned Sparrow nestlings and 136 Lapland Longspur nestlings over two years, representing 58 total nests. Perez had previously studied parental energy expenditure and incubation. “When I became involved in our project based out of Toolik Lake looking at effects of interannual variation across trophic levels and how that ultimately plays out in terms of reproductive success of songbirds, expanding to an examination of nestling growth rates with regards to variation in environmental conditions seemed like a logical next step,” he says. “Species at range edges are sentinels of climate change because they often experience high environmental variability and harshness,” according to Dr. Daniel Ardia of Franklin and Marshall College, an expert on the role of environmental variation in bird behavior and physiology. “Pérez and his co-authors reveal the direct effects of weather variation on nestling growth, an important determinant of fitness, showing how climate variability might have strong negative effects of populations. What makes the study so compelling is that they were able to link weather variability to food supply showing the causal link between predicted weather variation and reproduction.” Nestling growth rates in relation to food abundance and weather in the Arctic http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/tauk/133/2. Researcher contact info: Jonathan Pérez About the journal: The Auk: Ornithological Advances is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology that began in 1884 as the official publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union. In 2009, The

The use of vertebrate animals in research and education in the United States is subject to a number of regulations, policies, and guidelines under the immediate oversight of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs), which are charged with ensuring the ethical and appropriate use of the animal subjects. In almost all instances, this regulatory and oversight landscape of animal use has been developed for biomedical research environments and domestic animals bred specifically for research purposes. When the research activities involve wild species, especially in their natural habitat rather than a laboratory, oversight personnel and investigators alike struggle to apply these policies. A new, comprehensive review (published in the ILAR Journal, the peer-reviewed, theme-oriented publication of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) of the National Academy of Sciences) discusses the various policies, regulations, and guidance documents for animal use in the context of wildlife research. The publication, which follows the model of the highly influential IACUC Handbook (Silverman et al. 2014) compares the expectations of the various oversight agencies and how these expectations are met when working with wild vertebrates. The document is an important resource that will help IACUCs can use available resources to ensure that activities involving wild species are conducted in compliance with existing regulations and policies and in ways that are biologically appropriate for wildlife. It also explains the two overlapping but nonidentical federal policies (Animal Welfare Act regulations vs. Public Health Service Policy) and how to determine which of the policies should be applied. The authors include Ellen Paul, Executive Director of the Ornithological Council, Robert S. Sikes, Ph.D (Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists), Steven J. Beaupre, PhD (Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) and John C. Wingfield, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis, and Past Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the BIO division of the National Science Foundation. NOTE: The publication has been made open access by ILAR. Articles: Ellen Paul, Robert S. Sikes, Steven J. Beaupre, and John C. Wingfield Animal Welfare Policy: Implementation in the Context of Wildlife Research—Policy Review and Discussion of Fundamental IssuesILAR J (2015) 56 (3): 312-334 doi:10.1093/ilar/ilv073 Abstract Full Text (HTML) Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Data

"It is very remarkable that a nearly perfect gradation of structure in this one group can be traced in the form of the beak, from one exceeding in dimensions that of the largest gros-beak, to another differing but little from that of a warbler. Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends."

The Ornithological Council (OC) is investigating an e-mail alert service that will generate notices about U.S. federal and state legislation to those who have signed up to receive those notices. On behalf of its member societies, the OC will research each legislative proposal to determine if it is likely to be of interest to ornithologists and if so, if the legislation has the potential to move through the legislative process (most bills never go past the first stage, much less all the steps in the legislative process). In addition, the OC will research the merits of the legislation and provide an analysis of the pros and cons. Participants will then be able to write to their elected officials directly from the website using text suggested by the OC or their own personal message or a combination of the two. It is unlikely that there will be any legislation pertaining directly to ornithological research. The OC anticipates that most of the legislation that might be of interest to the members of ornithological societies will pertain to wild bird conservation and management or wild bird habitat. To gauge the extent of interest in each topic, the OC has developed a short survey and we encourage you to respond to the survey even if you don't plan to participate in the legislative news alert system. If you would like to participate, sign up HERE. Registration is free and we will never share your information with anyone. Scott Lanyon, President American Ornithologists' Union Reed Bowman, President Association of Field Ornithologists Martin Raphael, President Cooper Ornithological Society Miguel Saggese, President Raptor Research Foundation Erica Nol, President Waterbird Society Sara Morris, President Wilson Ornithological Society