Migratory Birds

Common loons often migrate several hundred miles to reach coastal waters during fall migration. Information about this part of the loon's life history is not well known. The use of satellite telemetry allows biologists to track loon movements through distant migrations and during winter. A transmitter attached to a radiomarked loon periodically sends a signal which is detected by a satellite-based...

Three federal wildlife refuge complexes on the upper Texas coast include portions of the Columbia Bottomlands and other forests that are important for migratory birds and possibly bats: Texas Mid-Coast, Trinity River, and Chenier Plain.

Flight facilitates comparatively rapid access to large areas, and the study of the movements of birds is essential for learning their relationships to their environment, and for managing the resources on which they depend and conserving the communities in which they live. Often the amount of space used by raptors varies with behavior associated with the birds’ ages and with the annual cycle. For...

Energy production has become essential for modern society. At the same time, this process can have negative effects on wildlife and ecosystems. It is in the best interest of society and the environment to understand these effects and to manage and mitigate for them. Our team focuses on measuring how energy development influences birds of prey and learning how to minimize impacts.

This work provides basic information for managing golden eagles in the context of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668d). The recent development of energy resources, such as wind, oil, gas, and solar, can potentially affect landscapes in ways that require changes in golden eagle management practices. Our work emphasizes priority information needs identified by the USGS and U...

Genetic and demographic analyses are key to understanding mechanisms of population and species declines and recovery potential. They are equally important to managers assessing risk of extinction relative to the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, and for establishing recovery goals and planning recovery actions. In addition to the methodologically and conceptually complex nature of these...

Predicted climate impacts on arid U.S. Great Basin wetlands will alter their number, distribution, and quality (e.g., salinity). The scarcity and isolation of these wetlands make them essential not only to wildlife but to ranchers, farmers, and urban areas that rely on their ecosystem services. Great Basin wetlands are important habitats for migratory birds at high volumes, but they become...

Quaking aspen stands typically support higher avian abundance and diversity than surrounding habitat types, and our current distribution and abundance of bird species in the Great Basin is likely tied to the persistence of aspen on the landscape. Aspen populations are declining in much of the West due to changes in fire frequency, competition with conifers, animal grazing, drought, disease, and...

Raptors, or birds of prey, are often used to indicate the state of an ecosystem, and monitoring their populations can help us to understand ecosystem processes. Raptors are particularly good animals for monitoring because they are big and therefore charismatic and easy to observe. Whether we’re monitoring nesting biology and reproductive output, counting individuals on roads, or setting up trail...

The Migratory Connectivity Project (MCP) is an effort to research, collect, and provide information about animal movement and full lifecycle biology, particularly for North American bird species, to agencies and NGOs interested in their conservation.

Migration is an amazing annual event. Every year billions of animals – birds, mammals, insects, and fish – make long-distance journeys from breeding grounds to wintering grounds. Most northern hemisphere birds migrate southward, but there are many other ways that birds move seasonally. If we want to protect birds that take these long distance journeys, we need to understand why they move, why they...

Western U.S. wetlands provide critical habitat for wintering and breeding waterfowl in California. WERC's Dr. Josh Ackerman is working toward collecting data to understand factors influencing duck nest success, to improve and restore breeding habitat for resident duck populations in California, and understand composition of predator communities. To learn more about how USGS WERC is implementing...