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At least 1,423 records · Page 79Linked to original sources

USGS2017

Determining fine-scale use and movement patterns of diving bird species in federal waters of the Mid-Atlantic United States using satellite telemetry

Offshore wind energy development in the United States is projected to expand in the upcoming decades to meet growing energy demands and reduce fossil fuel emissions. There is particular interest in commercial offshore wind development within Federal waters (i.e., > 3 nautical miles from shore) of the mid-Atlantic. In order to understand the potential for adverse effects on marine birds in this area, information on distribution and behavior (e.g., flight pathways, timing, etc.) is required for a broad suite of species. In areas where offshore wind development is likely to occur, such information can be used to identify high use areas during critical life stages, which can inform the siting of offshore facilities. It can also be used to provide baseline data for understanding broad changes in distributions that occur after offshore wind developments are constructed in a specific area.

Report↗

USGS2009

Persistence rates and detection probabilities of bird carcasses on beaches of Unalaska Island, Alaska following the wreck of the M/V Selendang Ayu

Mark–recapture techniques were used to estimate persistence rates and detection probabilities of bird carcasses associated with the oil spill following the wreck of the M/V Selendang Ayu at Unalaska Island, Alaska. Only 14.6% of carcasses placed on beaches remained after 24 hours, and all carcasses that remained had been scavenged to some degree. Daily persistence rates for scavenged carcasses on subsequent days were substantially higher at 79.1%. Most carcasses (>98%) were removed by scavengers at night. When they made a single pass, observers searching beaches for carcasses that had washed ashore found only about 40% of carcasses known to be present. This detection probability did not vary between pairs of search teams or between beaches. Detection probability increased to about 70% when teams searched the same beach segment twice. Our data indicate that only a small fraction of beached carcasses would likely be found using standard beach survey protocols and search frequencies. These data emphasize the importance of measuring persistence and detection rates for each mortality event.

Alaska↗

USGS2020

Use of whole blood samples preserved in DNA lysis buffer for serological detection of avian malaria in Hawaiian forest birds

Recent detections of avian malarial parasites in native and non-native forest birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and reports of epidemic transmission of the disease in high elevation habitats as well as controversy over accuracy of the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic test that was being used led to a request by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if existing blood samples that were preserved in a DNA lysis buffer could be used for independent confirmation of the findings with antibody based serological methods. The primary objective of this study was to test whether some DNA buffers used for preservation of blood samples cause denaturation and loss of antigenicity of antibody molecules. If the buffer does not destroy antigenicity of these molecules, then the samples can be used in serological assays to provide an independent assessment of the accuracy of PCR tests.

Hawaii↗

USGS2020

GoMAMN Strategic Bird Monitoring Guidelines: Landbirds

Landbirds in the Gulf of Mexico region include an ecologically diverse group of taxa that depend on a wide range of terrestrial habitats and the airspace above them. For the GoMAMN region of the Gulf of Mexico, the Landbird Working Group identified 19 species from 12 families as priorities for monitoring (Table 3.1). In addition, all species that stopover within the GoMAMN region during migration (i.e., passage migrants) are of concern, as are the habitats they use. The 19 priority species use a wide range of habitat types and include species that spend some (e.g., breeding, wintering, migration seasons) or all (e.g., residents) of their annual cycle in the GoMAMN region. The GoMAMN Landbird Working Group organized the priority landbirds into five groups based on a combination of habitat and season—forest breeding, forest wintering, grassland breeding, grassland wintering, and passage migrants—realizing that there would be overlap of habitats and seasons for some species. For example, Swainson's Warbler ( Limnothlypis swainsonii ) breeds in and migrates through forested habitat in the Gulf of Mexico region and Northern Bobwhite ( Colinus virginianus ) uses both prairie grasslands and evergreen forest (i.e., open pine savannas) (Table 3.1). For some species, such as Painted Bunting ( Passerina ciris ) and Common Ground-Dove ( Columbina passerina ), which often use scrub/shrub vegetation, the habitat-based designations above may be overly simplistic. Although it occurs along higher, drier fringes of palustrine and estuarine emergent marsh habitat, Sedge Wren ( Cistothorus platensis ) is included here as a landbird (rather than a marsh bird) because it is most commonly found during the winter along the Gulf coast in upland evergreen forest (i.e., wet pine savanna) habitat and grassland habitats. Selection of the five groups was predicated on the assumption that management efforts would be similar for species using these habitats in a given season, and that monitoring methods would be habitat and season specific.

Book chapter↗

USGS1995

Conservation Reserve Program and migratory birds in the northern Great Plains

U.S. Department of Agriculture programs have mediated supply and demand of commodities and maintained the agricultural industry, but several programs have also offered various kinds of conservation benefits. The 1985 Food Security Act (Farm Bill) featured the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which paid farmers to plant perennial cover on highly erodible lands and to leave this land intact for a 10-year contract period. During that period we conducted two studies to determine the value of CRP fields to breeding birds in the northern Great Plains.

Great Plains↗

USGS1999

Management of riparian habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Appendix C

Melinda Knutson (USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center) and Christine Ribic (USGS Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit) contributed to a recent report published by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The report summarizes a workshop held 8 December 1999 in Chicago, IL. Highlights of the report include resources and land management recommendations for riparian zones in the Midwest. The full report will soon be available at the USDA NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute website: http://www.ms.nrcs.usda.gov/whmi/habitat.htm Knutson, M., and C. Ribic. 2000. Management of riparian habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Pages 22-24, Appendix C in W. Hohman, ed. NRCS Management and Restoration of Midwestern Riparian Systems Workshop Report. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chicago, IL.

Report↗

USGS1978

Impacts of transmission lines on birds in flight: Proceedings of a workshop

Progress to alleviate the national and world energy problem will come as individual issues are identified and acceptable solutions implemented. One of the specific issues to emerge in the last few years in the United States is the impact of electric power transmission lines on birds in flight. Therefore, the National Power Plant Team, Office of Biological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, requested Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to organized and convene a workshop of knowledgeable experts to examine this issue and options for dealing with it. The participants are listed at the end of this report.

FWS/OBS↗

USGS2017

A global threats overview for Numeniini populations: synthesising expert knowledge for a group of declining migratory birds.

The Numeniini is a tribe of 13 wader species (Scolopacidae, Charadriiformes) of which seven are Near Threatened or globally threatened, including two Critically Endangered. To help inform conservation management and policy responses, we present the results of an expert assessment of the threats that members of this taxonomic group face across migratory flyways. Most threats are increasing in intensity, particularly in non-breeding areas, where habitat loss resulting from residential and commercial development, aquaculture, mining, transport, disturbance, problematic invasive species, pollution and climate change were regarded as having the greatest detrimental impact. Fewer threats (mining, disturbance, problematic native species and climate change) were identified as widely affecting breeding areas. Numeniini populations face the greatest number of non-breeding threats in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, especially those associated with coastal reclamation; related threats were also identified across the Central and Atlantic Americas, and East Atlantic flyways. Threats on the breeding grounds were greatest in Central and Atlantic Americas, East Atlantic and West Asian flyways. Three priority actions were associated with monitoring and research: to monitor breeding population trends (which for species breeding in remote areas may best be achieved through surveys at key non-breeding sites), to deploy tracking technologies to identify migratory connectivity, and to monitor land-cover change across breeding and non-breeding areas. Two priority actions were focused on conservation and policy responses: to identify and effectively protect key non-breeding sites across all flyways (particularly in the East Asian- Australasian Flyway), and to implement successful conservation interventions at a sufficient scale across human-dominated landscapes for species' recovery to be achieved. If implemented urgently, these measures in combination have the potential to alter the current population declines of many Numeniini species and provide a template for the conservation of other groups of threatened species.

Bird Conservation International↗

USGS1943