NREM/ZOOL 4464 – Ornithology Lectures 4–5 Dr. Tim O’Connell 23–25 January, 2019 How do we know about these distributions of birds? 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 Bird 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 feathers, 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 Eagle 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.