Bridget J. Stutchbury is a Canadian biologist, currently a Distinguished Research Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology at York University. [1] [2] [3] [4] She is the author of the book Silence of the Songbirds , finalist for the 2007 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. [5]
Bridget Stutchbury earned an M.Sc. at Queen's University and a Ph.D. at Yale University before going on to complete postdoctoral and research associate work at the Smithsonian Institution. [6] [7]
Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality.
The white-throated sparrow is a passerine bird of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. It breeds in northern North America and winters in the southern United States.
The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada. The members vary greatly in shape, patterns, size and colors. Some tyrant flycatchers may superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers, which they are named after but are not closely related to. They are members of suborder Tyranni (suboscines), which do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of most other songbirds.
The tree swallow is a migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae. Found in the Americas, the tree swallow was first described in 1807 by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot as Hirundo bicolor. It has since been moved to its current genus, Tachycineta, within which its phylogenetic placement is debated. The tree swallow has glossy blue-green upperparts, with the exception of the blackish wings and tail, and white underparts. The bill is black, the eyes dark brown, and the legs and feet pale brown. The female is generally duller than the male, and the first-year female has mostly brown upperparts, with some blue feathers. Juveniles have brown upperparts, and gray-brown-washed breasts. The tree swallow breeds in the US and Canada. It winters along southern US coasts south, along the Gulf Coast, to Panama and the northwestern coast of South America, and in the West Indies.
The olive-sided flycatcher is a small to medium sized passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the Tyrant flycatcher family. It is a migratory species that travels from South to North America to breed during the summer. It is a very agile flyer and mainly consumes flying insects on flight. Since 2016, this species has been assessed as being near-threatened globally (IUCN) and threatened in Canada (SRA) due to its declining populations.
The Blackburnian warbler is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.
The northern waterthrush is a species of ground-feeding migratory New World warbler of the genus Parkesia. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada and the northern United States including Alaska, and winters in Central America, the West Indies and Florida, as well as in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. It is a rare vagrant to other South American countries and to western Europe. Its closest relative is the Louisiana waterthrush.
The golden-winged warbler is a New World warbler. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the global population breeds in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Golden-winged warbler populations are slowly expanding northwards, but are generally declining across its range, most likely as a result of habitat loss and competition/interbreeding with the very closely related blue-winged warbler, Vermivora cyanoptera. Populations are now restricted to two regions: the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian population has declined 98% since the 1960s and is significantly imperiled. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been petitioned to list the species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is currently reviewing all information after issuing a positive finding. Upon review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the petition to list the species as endangered or threatened presents "substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the golden-winged warbler may be warranted."
The black-throated blue warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the cooler months, it migrates to islands in the Caribbean and Central America. It is very rarely found in western Europe, where it is considered to be a non-indigenous species. The black-throated blue warbler is sexually dimorphic; the adult male has a black face and cheeks, deep blue upperparts and white underparts, while the adult female is olive-brown above and light yellow below.
Baird's sparrow is a species of North American birds in the family Passerellidae of order Passeriformes. It is a migratory bird native to the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The East Asian–Australasian Flyway is one of the world's great flyways of migratory birds. At its northernmost it stretches eastwards from the Taimyr Peninsula in Russia to Alaska. Its southern end encompasses Australia and New Zealand. Between these extremes the flyway covers much of eastern Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, South-East Asia and the western Pacific. The EAAF is home to over 50 million migratory water birds from over 250 different populations, including 32 globally threatened species and 19 near threatened species. It is especially important for the millions of migratory waders or shorebirds that breed in northern Asia and Alaska and spend the non-breeding season in South-East Asia and Australasia.
Animal migration tracking is used in wildlife biology, conservation biology, ecology, and wildlife management to study animals' behavior in the wild. One of the first techniques was bird banding, placing passive ID tags on birds legs, to identify the bird in a future catch-and-release. Radio tracking involves attaching a small radio transmitter to the animal and following the signal with a RDF receiver. Sophisticated modern techniques use satellites to track tagged animals, and GPS tags which keep a log of the animal's location. With the Emergence of IoT the ability to make devices specific to the species or what is to be tracked is possible. One of the many goals of animal migration research has been to determine where the animals are going; however, researchers also want to know why they are going "there". Researchers not only look at the animals' migration but also what is between the migration endpoints to determine if a species is moving to new locations based on food density, a change in water temperature, or other stimulus, and the animal's ability to adapt to these changes. Migration tracking is a vital tool in efforts to control the impact of human civilization on populations of wild animals, and prevent or mitigate the ongoing extinction of endangered species.
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migration in ecology. It is found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. The cause of migration may be local climate, local availability of food, the season of the year or for mating.
Bird conservation is a field in the science of conservation biology related to threatened birds. Humans have had a profound effect on many bird species. Over one hundred species have gone extinct in historical times, although the most dramatic human-caused extinctions occurred in the Pacific Ocean as humans colonised the islands of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, during which an estimated 750–1,800 species of birds became extinct. According to Worldwatch Institute, many bird populations are currently declining worldwide, with 1,200 species facing extinction in the next century. The biggest cited reason surrounds habitat loss. Other threats include overhunting, accidental mortality due to structural collisions, long-line fishing bycatch, pollution, competition and predation by pet cats, oil spills and pesticide use and climate change. Governments, along with numerous conservation charities, work to protect birds in various ways, including legislation, preserving and restoring bird habitat, and establishing captive populations for reintroductions.
Silence of the Songbirds (ISBN 978-0-8027-1609-5) is a book by bird lover and scientist Bridget Stutchbury about the rapid decline and loss of many species of songbirds. Some major threats covered include pesticides, sun-grown coffee, city lights, cowbirds, and global warming. The book was published by HarperCollins in 2007, and has 243 pages.
A light level geolocator, light-level logger or global location sensor (GLS) is a lightweight, electronic archival tracking device, usually used in bird migration research to map migration routes, identify important staging areas, and sometimes provide additional ecological information. A geolocator periodically records ambient light level to determine location.
The Margaret Morse Nice Medal is an ornithological award made annually by the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS). It was established in 1997 and named in honour of ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice (1883–1974). The medal recipient is expected to give the plenary lecture at the WOS annual general meeting.
Altitudinal migration is a short-distance animal migration from lower altitudes to higher altitudes and back. Altitudinal migrants change their elevation with the seasons making this form of animal migration seasonal. Altitudinal migration can be most commonly observed in species inhabiting temperate or tropical ecosystems. This behavior is commonly seen among avian species but can also be observed within other vertebrates and some invertebrates. It is commonly thought to happen in response to climate and food availability changes as well as increasingly due to anthropogenic influence. These migrations can occur both during reproductive and non-reproductive seasons.
Christy Ann Morrissey is a Canadian ecotoxicologist. She is a Professor of biology at the University of Saskatchewan and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
Thomas W. Sherry is an American ecologist and academic. He serves as a professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University.