NREM/ZOOL 4464 – Lectures 4–5 Dr. Tim O’Connell 23–25 January, 2019

How do we know about these distributions of ? Although birds never cease to surprise in distribution and abundance, we know an awful lot about them relative to other vertebrate groups. People have always studied birds. Today, citizen science provides information from multiple sources. Just in the US and Canada we have . . .

Christmas Count: Began 1900 and managed by the National Audubon Society. Takes place on one day within 10 days of Dec. 25. All individuals of all species are counted within a “count circle” of 15 miles diameter. • Provides: abundance estimate for wintering birds • Pro: 119 year history • Con: Lots of circles, but can only count birds in the established circles • https://www.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count-compiler-resources

Christmas Bird Count circles

North American Breeding Bird Survey: Federal monitoring program founded in 1966 by Chandler Robbins and managed jointly by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and Environment Canada. Routes are surveyed along roads in June/July: 50 points per route spaced out every half-mile along a 25-mile-long distance. At each point, a trained observer conducts a 3-minute count for all individuals seen or heard. • Provides: continental abundance estimate for breeding birds • Pro: 52-year history of standardized surveys • Con: Lots of routes, but can only count birds along those routes; roadside bias • https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/

1 eBird: Volunteer-based program to report any bird, anywhere, anytime, conceived of and managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. • Provides: bird locations and abundance anywhere, from anytime since about 2002 • Pro: everything • Con: nothing • https://ebird.org/home

Great Backyard Bird Count: This is a specific eBird project that aims to get as many people as possible out eBirding during one long weekend in February. The project was initially developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada. Begun in 1997, we’ll have the 22nd annual GBBC. • Provides: bird locations and abundance anywhere, generally from a 4-day weekend in mid-February. In 2019 the dates are 15–18 February. • Pro: maximum participation from any location • Con: no standardization of effort or skill • http://gbbc.birdcount.org/

2 breeding bird atlases: These are long-term, volunteer-based programs that aim to determine the places across a state or other area where birds can be confirmed to breed/nest. • Provides: Distribution and information of where birds actually defend territories and attempt to breed. • Pro: Each block represents 5 years of effort to confirm all the different species that breed in a specific area. Data are highly conservative and rely on skilled observers. • Con: Can only run the surveys every 20 years or so. • https://wsobirds.org/atlas

Citizen science programs like these – and there are many more all over the world – represent the latest in general monitoring of bird locations, abundance estimation, etc. There are, of course, other ways to estimate populations, too. For example, estimates for abundance of game bird populations such as waterfowl can be determined through bird banding returns from hunters. The USFWS coordinates annual banding operations through the Migratory Bird Program. Bands returned from hunters provide mark-recapture data that can be used to estimate population size through various modeling approaches. To learn more: https://www.fws.gov//birds/surveys-and- data.php.

Modern wildlife inventory and management is just the latest in bird study that our species has pursued since time immemorial.

3 Birds in art People have studied birds for as long as there have been people. Birds announce the change of seasons, point the direction to predator kills or fruiting trees or water sources or islands over the horizon – even honey! Birds are a resource themselves – for food, insulating , ceremonial garb, tools (e.g., hooks). Finally, birds are a source of human inspiration. Some of our species’ first musical instruments were flutes of bird bone that were very likely used to make sounds like birds!

Examples of use of birds in art (ancient and modern) Rock painting of Genyornis from Australia – could be 40,000 years old. Apache Indian rock painting from Arizona – prob, Golden in flight. Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights.” (ca. 1500) Birds in music, e.g., Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology.” Birds in movies, e.g., Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” (1963)

But what about birds in science? (New World examples) Bird Paper One: • English botanist Nehemiah Grew published a letter written to him by a Mr. Hamersly, and Englishman then living in Barbados. Letter published in Philosophical Transactions, May 1693. • Hamersly describes observations of the “hum bird”, which was most likely the Green-throated Carib.

Grew’s publication of Hamersly’s letter is our earliest published scientific paper on birds. (This is not the earliest writing about birds – heck, even Aristotle was doing that back in ancient Greece. The point is that this is the earliest written article about birds in a scientific journal.)

Mark Catesby (1682–1749) •Englishman who lived in Williamsburg, VA for many years • Published Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands between 1731 and 1743. •First published work on the flora and fauna of North America

Alexander Wilson (1766–1813) The Father of American Ornithology •Weaver and poet from Paisley, Scotland •Immigrated to the Pennsylvania at age 27 to escape debtor’s prison •Taught school, wrote poetry, and became obsessed with painting and studying birds of America. • Published the nine-volume American Ornithology (1808–1814) in which 264 species (49 more than were previously known) are described

John James Audubon (1785–1851) •Of French/Creole ancestry born on his father’s sugar plantation in modern- day Haiti; raised in France •At 18, father bought him a fake passport so he could immigrate to the USA in 1803 and avoid conscription in Napolean’s army •Birds of America (published 1827–1839) included 435 life-sized prints •On 7 December 2010, one of the original books was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London for $11.5 million – the most expensive book ever –until 2 January 2014 when the Bay Psalm Book fetched $14.2 million at auction.

Audubon’s mind-blowing portrait of the extinct Carolina Parakeet !

4 Charles Darwin •1859: The Origin of Species •24 February 1827: Then college student Charles Darwin attends a meeting of the Wernerin Society in Edinburgh in which the speaker for the evening was . . . Audubon! (Audubon read a paper he had written on the unfathomable abundance of Passenger Pigeon.) •The Theory of Evolution By Natural Selection was formulated primarily through Darwin’s meticulous records of morphological characteristics of finches on Galapagos Islands.

By the dawn of the 20th Century, a sea change was ripe for Ornithology. Rather than simple observations of species’ distributions (Catesby–Audubon) or meticulous record keeping of seemingly arcane morphological characters (Darwin), the stage was set for a new way to study birds – meticulous record-keeping on what birds did.

Margaret Morse Nice •Given a bird book at age 12, and started taking notes. •Born in Amherst, MA and earned degrees from Mount Holyoke (BA) and Clark (MA). •Married Blaine Nice in 1908, and moved to Norman, OK where Blaine was on the OU faculty and Margaret raised 5 kids. •Published The Birds of Oklahoma in 1931; also published 18 articles on child development, based on observations of her own children. •Moved to Columbus, OH in 1927 and began a definitive study of Song Sparrows. •First female president of the Wilson Ornithological Society and elected fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. •Published more than 250 papers, 3000 book reviews, and several books. Nice’s work on the life history of Song Sparrow ushered in a new era of studying the lives of birds, contributed greatly to the fledgling field of animal behavior, and laid the groundwork for the rise of citizen science in ornithology.

To this day, the “lifetime achievement” award for consistent excellence given annually by the Wilson Ornithological Society is called the “Margaret Morse Nice Medal.”

Professional scientific societies developed in the 19th Century: •American Ornithologists’ Union – 1883: publishes Auk •Wilson Ornithological Society – 1888: publishes Wilson Journal of Ornithology •Cooper Ornithological Society – 1893: publishes Condor •Association of Field Ornithologists – 1922: publishes Journal of Field Ornithology •Raptor Research Foundation – 1966: publishes Journal of Raptor Research •The Waterbird Society – 1976: publishes Waterbirds

•Today, all publish international, peer-reviewed journals, sponsor research and awards, hold annual meetings, provide multiple avenues to support students in ornithology

Other societies publish journals that include articles on ornithological topics. There include: •Science •Nature •Ecology – and its derivatives such as Ecological Applications •Conservation Biology •Journal of Wildlife Management •Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) •Evolution •Oecologia •Animal Behaviour •International journals comparable to The Auk: Ibis, Emu, Ornis Fennica, Die Vogelvelt, Ostrich, Ornitologica Neotropical, Journal of Avian Biology, etc.

5 All of these are high-level, peer-reviewed journals of science (some much higher than others) in which the material published usually can be demonstrated to have international significance and represent state-of-the-art in the discipline. This is a tremendous output of scientific research related to birds. Articles of regional significance or those that focus on descriptive aspects of life history, distribution, etc., may be published by regional scientific societies. These are not solely ornithological journals, but they publish plenty of bird papers.

Southeastern Naturalist, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, Prairie Naturalist, etc. •These are regional societies with peer-reviewed journals of a lower tier. Mostly these publications deal with interests relevant to a particular region, rather than issues of international scope.

There are also state level societies of ornithological research, obviously focusing on state-level questions and issues.

Oklahoma Ornithological Society •“The OOS is an independent, non-profit educational organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to the observation, study, and conservation of birds.” •Publishes (peer-reviewed!) the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society •Today, notes on distributions and basic natural history are usually published in journals like BOOS.

The OOS owes a debt of great gratitude to George M. “Doc” Sutton who was instrumental in establishing BOOS as a peer-reviewed journal of science, even though it’s got such a narrow scope. Check this place out: http://www.suttoncenter.org/

You may be familiar with the names of societies on this next list. These are public membership societies, not professional scientific societies, and their focus is on education and conservation. •Work is geared toward conservation and education •May be actively involved in “Citizen Science”, but do not publish peer-reviewed journals of science on their own. Publications intended for a more general readership.

•National Audubon Society (and 100s of local and •Sutton Avian Research Center regional chapters) •American Bird Conservancy •Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology •Sierra Club •American Birding Association •Gulf Coast Bird Observatory

These societies cater to folks with an interest in nature and wildlife conservation, with birders serving as the #1 constituency group. Here are some stats on how many people out there take an interest in birds: •As many as 60 million birders in the U.S.! •2nd only to gardening as an outdoor hobby - more people travel to see birds than play golf. •Annual expenditures on seed, feeders, binoculars, books, travel, etc. - about 12 BILLION dollars!

Because birders tend to be good at taking notes from their observations and sharing them with established monitoring programs (e.g., eBird, the Great Backyard Bird Count, the Breeding Bird Survey, the Christmas Bird Count, and numerous other citizen science programs).

With the information that pours in from birders, scientists can gain great insight (relative to other taxonomic groups) about distribution and abundance. Check out this information about the abundant and widespread Savannah Sparrow:

Not only do we basically know where they are, by season, but we also know about how many there are in different areas, by season. Blue = 1 or less per count; dark red = 10–30 per count.

6 The basic information birders provide through participation in citizen science projects is even more important for rare or range-restricted species. Check out this map for Harris’s Sparrow:

It ain’t easy getting people up to the Arctic to monitor populations of this species during the breeding season. Thus, our best chance to know anything about Harris’s Sparrow comes from winter citizen science programs like the Christmas Bird Count and the Great Backyard Bird Count – specifically from the birders in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. We have an obligation to participate in these programs to generate data that scientists can use in decisions that might affect Harris’s Sparrow.

In Oklahoma, we actually have several species with restricted ranges like this that focus on the central southern plains: Smith’s Longspur (winter), Painted Bunting (summer), Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (summer), etc.

Long-term monitoring programs provide powerful information on the response of multiple wildlife species to broad scale changes in habitats:

Extinct North American Birds: Great Auk Bachman’s Warbler Dusky Seaside Sparrow Passenger Pigeon Eskimo Curlew Carolina Parakeet Labrador Heath Hen Ivory-billed Woodpecker

This doesn’t include the extinct birds of the Hawaiian Islands – at least 31 of those have gone extinct since 1800.

Passenger Pigeon, at one time perhaps the most abundant terrestrial vertebrate on earth. •Today, estimated 20 billion birds of all species in North America each autumn (~ 600 species). •In 1800, there were probably 5 billion passenger pigeons alone – 2 billion estimated in one flock. •Migrating flocks took three days to pass over; nesting colonies 3 X 40 miles in area.

What happened? •Market demand – up to 1.5 million shipped from one colony in 3 months •Telegraph and railway – communication of colony locations/easy shipping to big cities •Flocking behavior, social structure – birds could only breed in massive colonies • Hunting pressure intense and unsustainable, but cutting down the old-growth forests the birds needed for nesting was just as damaging as the hunting pressure.

History of the conservation movement in the U.S., re: birds •The modern conservation movement was largely fomented as a response to the wanton destruction of birds at the dawn of the 20th Century. •Specifically, the National Audubon Society has its roots in the protest of killing birds for the millinery trade.

The “Plume Wars” •In 1886, ornithologist Frank Chapman reported 40 different species of birds on 700 ladies’ hats he had observed on the streets of New York City. As many as 5 million birds were being taken each year. •That same year, zoologist and anthropologist George Grinnell published the first “Audubon” magazine dedicated to raising awareness of the conservation of native birds.

7 Ladies to the Rescue! •In 1896, wealthy Boston socialites Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall started a protest against the use of wild bird feathers on hats. •Invited ladies to a series of “teas” in which they explained the plight of native birds and asked for pledges of assistance. •Those first 900 ladies that participated formed “Massachusetts Audubon” and got the state to pass a law banning the sale of wild bird feathers (1897).

•By 1900, people (especially well-to-do ladies) had turned their passion for conservation to passion for birding. •But the birds were still being shot. “Aigrettes” sold for $32/oz.

•Federal Lacey Act (1900) banned the trade in wildlife parts nationwide. (Today, the Lacey Act also provides money for restoration of wildlife and plants, as well as support against exotic species importations.) •1903 – Theodore Roosevelt establishes the very first National Wildlife Refuge at Pelican Island, FL. The refuge was specifically set up to protect birds from plume hunters. Laws and refuges need wardens . . .

•Pressured by the Florida Audubon Society, the American Ornithologists’ Union in 1902 hired Guy Bradley, a county sheriff’s deputy, to protect colonies of wading birds in southern Florida. •Bradley was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1905. He was 35, with a wife and 2 little kids. : (

•Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) outlaws the hunt, pursuit, capture, annoyance, trade, etc. of at least 800 species shared by the U.S., Canada, Russia, Mexico, and Japan. This is why we need permits to hunt birds, band birds, and even pick up dead birds or their feathers! •National Wildlife Federation’s highest honor: Guy Bradley Award.

Conservation and imperiled birds •At least 132 species of birds have gone extinct worldwide since the ~ 1500. (Three of those since 2000.) •Global clearinghouse for wildlife conservation is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). •The “Red List” tracks populations of species in danger of extinction in the categories below. •Despite some significant conservation success stories, biodiversity loss is outpacing conservation.

•Hawaii – 157 bird species, but 66 (42%) are introduced. Of 113 native species in 1500, 48 were extinct by 1778 (when Cap. James Cook arrived); 23 more extinct from 1778–2004. •Of 42 remaining endemic species, 33 are Endangered under the ESA; 10 of those have not been seen in 40+ yrs. •American Bird Conservancy (and other groups) working their butts off to save the remaining species. •Last Po’ouli died in captivity, 2004.

•Biggest threats globally: Agricultural development, logging of primary forest, poaching, and invasive species. •Additional threats – fishing bycatch, collision with human structures, pollution (e.g., oil spills, plastics), climate change, Justin Bieber, etc.

Common birds in freefall •Northern Bobwhite – 82% population decline from 31 million to 5.5 million. •Eastern Meadowlark – 72% decline from 24 million to 7 million. •Loggerhead Shrike – 70% decline from 10 million to 3 million •Field Sparrow – 68% decline from 18 million to 5.8 million •Grasshopper Sparrow – 60% decline from 31 million to 11 million

At least 7 of the top 10 “Common Species in Decline” are grassland/rangeland species.

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