The Waterbird Society 43rd Annual Meeting 6-9 November 2019 Princess Anne, Maryland Contents Welcome from the President of the Waterbird Society ......................................... 5 About the Waterbird Society ................................................................................ 6 Welcome from the Scientific Program Chair ........................................................ 7 Welcome from the Committee on Local Arrangements ....................................... 8 Transportation: SLUGGING IT ........................................................................... 9 Directions, hotel to UMES ................................................................................ 11 Day-by-day-schedule ........................................................................................ 14 Social events schedule ....................................................................................... 16 Special sessions ................................................................................................ 18 Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative 2023 Atlantic and Gulf Coast coordinated colonial waterbird survey Wildlife Acoustics: Using Bioacoustics as a Valuable Waterbird Research Tool Scientific Program Information Instructions for talks .............................................................................. 19 Instructions for poster presentations ....................................................... 19 Plenary Speaker Biography .................................................................... 21 Symposia ............................................................................................... 23 Scientific Program Schedule Wednesday 6 November ........................................................................ 26 Thursday 7 November ............................................................................ 26 Friday 8 November ............................................................................... 30 Saturday 9 November ........................................................................... 34 Presentation Abstracts ....................................................................................... 38 Poster Abstracts ................................................................................................ 94 Author Index .................................................................................................. 112 Poster Abstracts, Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative ........................................ 116 Nearby restaurants and amenities .................................................................... 121 Committee on Local Arrangements: Scientific Program Chair: Bill Bowerman, Jurgen Schwarz, Ellen Paul Dave Moore Website: Amanda Moore Social Media: #waterbirdsociety2019 @waterbirdsociet @the_waterbird_society @WaterbirdSociet For meeting announcements, reminders, sharing, etc. Website: https://waterbirds.org/ 2 SPONSORS Cellular Tracking Technologies Lotek National Audubon Society Seabird Restoration Program National Band & Tag Wildlife Acoustics 3 4 Welcome from the President of The Waterbird Society I am excited to welcome all of you to Salisbury, Maryland for the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society. For over four decades, our society has held its annual meetings in a variety of locations and has consistently offered a bevy of scientific talks, symposia, workshops and other events. This year, however, truly marks a significant first for our society as we are meeting at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) and we are partnering with UMES to host a Diversity Day during our annual meeting. The Diversity Day, funded by the National Science Foundation, will take place Friday, November 8 and I strongly encourage all of you to participate. We have invited students from UMES and other HBCUs to attend. The day will be filled with speaker presentations, a Q&A panel, and demonstration papers. The Diversity Day will give us all a chance to hear from persons of color about their careers and experiences in the natural sciences field and provide HBCU students the opportunity to meet and converse with society members and many state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations and private sector employers. As always, we will have an excellent scientific program during our annual meeting. Society vice- President Dave Moore has put together another excellent program that includes a variety of symposia and workshops. We also have our very own Dr. Patty Szczys as our plenary speaker this year. We are excited to welcome back the Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative which will hold a 1.5-day workshop with us again as they did in 2016. I want to personally welcome all students to our society’s annual meeting. Our society has always valued students and I believe we as fellow members make a sincere effort to welcome you to the meeting and encourage your active and enthusiastic participation in our society. Most of us that serve on the Executive Council began our involvement with the society as students. Likewise, welcome to all members who are attending their first Waterbird Society meeting. I hope you will find it as rich and rewarding as my first meeting many years ago. Our society cannot neither sustain itself nor grow without students and new member participation. We as Council are always looking for new people to actively participate in the society. I encourage everybody to attend our Business Meeting on Saturday, November 9 during lunchtime to learn more about the society and how you can get involved. In closing, I want to thank all those who made this meeting possible. I thank the Society’s officers, councilors, and committees for the many hours they volunteer to support our society and keep us progressing forward to promote waterbird research and conservation. I want to thank Bill Bowerman, Jurgen Schwarz, and Ellen Paul for their hard work in making this meeting possible. Bill in partnership with Jurgen promoted the idea of our society coming to UMES for its annual meeting and having a diversity event and Ellen, as she has in planning past meetings, truly took the “bull by the horns” and has tirelessly organized what will be a fantastic meeting. I look forward to catching up with all of you in Maryland. Yours sincerely, Clay Green 5 About the Waterbird Society Our mission The Waterbird Society is an international scientific, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster the study, management and conservation of the world’s aquatic birds. The Society’s primary goals are to: (1) promote basic and applied research on waterbirds and their habitats, (2) foster science-based waterbird conservation globally, and (3) enhance communication and education at all levels - among professionals, policy makers, and citizens. To accomplish these goals, the Society publishes an international peer-reviewed journal, hosts scientific meetings, provides grants and awards, and facilitates other activities. Our history The Society was established in 1976 following the North American Wading Bird Conference held in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and named the Colonial Waterbird Group. The organization changed its name to the Colonial Waterbird Society in 1986. In 1999, the organization became The Waterbird Society to reflect an expanded interest in all aquatic birds. Waterbird Society Council Officers President: Clay Green Vice President: Dave Moore Secretary: Patty Szczys Treasurer: Christine Custer Editor of Waterbirds: Andrew Kasner Council members, 2017-2019 Dale Gawlik Eric Mellink Sara Schweitzer Council members, 2018-2020 Dan Catlin Sean Murphy Kate Shlper Council members 2019-2021 Danielle D’Auria Miyuki Mashiko K.S. Gopi Sundar 6 Welcome from the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all participants of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society. I am very excited by this year’s program, which kicks off with a plenary address by Dr. Patty Szczys (also one of our society’s officers!): “Natural history and genetics: Informing tern conservation and undergraduate research”. The program consists of 123 talks and 43 poster presentations (representing 452 authors), making it one of our best-attended conferences in recent years. This will be a truly international conference, featuring presenters from 15 countries. Most importantly, for the success and vitality of our society and for continued research and conservation of the birds that we are all passionate about, more than a quarter of this year’s presenters are students! Whether it is your first Waterbird Society meeting, and whatever your career stage, I invite and encourage you to become actively involved in our society. The conference includes five symposia, covering a wide diversity of topics, which account for about half of all presentations: • Pelicans of the world • Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets: their biology, conservation and management • Avian interactions with offshore energy development • Black Rail ecology and conservation • Ecology and management of gulls in urban landscapes This year, the Waterbird Society is meeting jointly with the Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative, which includes a workshop by the Seabird Colonies and Adjacent Waters Working Group to plan the proposed 2023 Atlantic and Gulf Coast coordinated colonial waterbird survey. Talks by a number of invited speakers and special events will occur on Friday, November 8th to celebrate diversity and engage with