Unit Leader - Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
David serves as the Leader of the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, having come to the MN Unit in 1989 as the Assistant Leader-Wildlife. He is a U.S. Geological Survey Wildlife Research Biologist, and his research focus is in the area of avian population ecology and conservation.
David is currently working with American woodcock in Minnesota, golden-winged warblers in the western Great Lakes region, Eastern Population sandhill cranes, and tundra peregrines in Alaska.
Research Interests
- Avian population ecology and conservation,
- Sampling from biological populations
Professional Experience
Unit Leader, Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 1995-
Education and Certifications
Ph D University of Wisconsin-Madison
MS University of Wisconsin-Madison
BA St. Olaf College
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 54
Patterns of parental care and movement in divided broods of golden-winged warblers
Post-fledging brood division is a poorly understood, yet widespread suite of avian behaviours that includes both division of parental care and spatial division of a brood. For most species, the differences in parental care between adult males and females and the behavioural mechanisms explaining spatial patterns of brood division are unknown. We studied brood division in golden-winged warblers Ver
Migration phenology and patterns of American woodcock in central North America derived using satellite telemetry
American woodcock Scolopax minor (hereafter woodcock) migration ecology is poorly understood, but has implications for population ecology and management, especially related to harvest. To describe woodcock migration patterns and phenology, we captured and equipped 73 woodcock with satellite tracking devices in the Central Management Region (analogous to the Mississippi Flyway) of North America and
Simulating strategic implementation of the CRP to increase Greater prairie-chicken abundance
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has the potential to influence the distribution and abundance of grasslands in many agricultural landscapes, and thereby provide habitat for grassland-dependent wildlife. Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are a grassland-dependent species with large area requirements and have been used as an indicator of grassland ecosystem function; they
Genomic identification of intergeneric hybrids in New World wood-warblers (Aves: Parulidae)
The documentation of hybrids between distantly related taxa can illustrate an initial step to explain how genes might move between species that do not exhibit complete reproductive isolation. In birds, some of the most phylogenetically distant hybrid combinations occur between genera. Traditionally, morphological and plumage characters have been used to assign the identity of the parental species
Left out in the rain: Comparing productivity of two associated species exposes a leak in the umbrella species concept
Multi-species approaches to wildlife management have become commonplace and purport to benefit entire biological communities. These strategies aim to manage different, often taxonomically distant species under a single regime based on shared habitat associations and/or co-occurrence in the landscape. We tested the efficacy of multi-species management in the context of creating and maintaining earl
Assessment of the American woodcock singing-ground survey zone timing and coverage
The American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-Ground Survey (SGS) was developed to inform management decisions by monitoring changes in the relative abundance of woodcock. The timing of the designated survey windows was designed to count resident woodcock while minimizing counting of migrating woodcock. Since the implementation of the SGS in 1968, concerns over survey protoco
Estimating density and effective area surveyed for American woodcock
The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is conducted annually during the woodcock breeding season, and survey points along survey routes are set 0.4 mile (0.65 km) apart to avoid counting individual birds from >1 listening location. The effective area surveyed (EAS) at a listening point is not known, and may vary as a function of land-cover type or o
Detection probability and occupancy of American woodcock during Singing-ground surveys
The Singing-ground Survey (SGS) was designed to exploit the conspicuous breeding-season display of male American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) to monitor these otherwise inconspicuous birds. The SGS was standardized in 1968 and has since been conducted annually to derive an index of abundance and population trend. Counts of singing male woodcock on the SGS have generally declined
Juvenile Sandhill Cranes exhibit wider ranging and more exploratory movements than adults during the breeding season
Sandhill Cranes Antigone canadensis exhibit delayed sexual maturity and breeding, and therefore juvenile Cranes searching for suitable territories to occupy have different ecological constraints on movements than adults, which must defend a territory and raise young. We used fine-scale GPS telemetry data to characterize and compare movements of adult and juvenile Cranes near the boundary between t
Say what? Bivalent singing in Vermivora warblers
No abstract available.
Migratory connectivity of American woodcock derived using satellite telemetry
American woodcock (Scolopax minor; woodcock) migratory connectivity (i.e., association between breeding and wintering areas) is largely unknown, even though current woodcock management is predicated on such associations. Woodcock are currently managed in the Eastern and Central management regions in the United States with the boundary between management regions analogous to the boundary between th
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 54
Patterns of parental care and movement in divided broods of golden-winged warblers
Post-fledging brood division is a poorly understood, yet widespread suite of avian behaviours that includes both division of parental care and spatial division of a brood. For most species, the differences in parental care between adult males and females and the behavioural mechanisms explaining spatial patterns of brood division are unknown. We studied brood division in golden-winged warblers VerMigration phenology and patterns of American woodcock in central North America derived using satellite telemetry
American woodcock Scolopax minor (hereafter woodcock) migration ecology is poorly understood, but has implications for population ecology and management, especially related to harvest. To describe woodcock migration patterns and phenology, we captured and equipped 73 woodcock with satellite tracking devices in the Central Management Region (analogous to the Mississippi Flyway) of North America andSimulating strategic implementation of the CRP to increase Greater prairie-chicken abundance
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has the potential to influence the distribution and abundance of grasslands in many agricultural landscapes, and thereby provide habitat for grassland-dependent wildlife. Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are a grassland-dependent species with large area requirements and have been used as an indicator of grassland ecosystem function; theyGenomic identification of intergeneric hybrids in New World wood-warblers (Aves: Parulidae)
The documentation of hybrids between distantly related taxa can illustrate an initial step to explain how genes might move between species that do not exhibit complete reproductive isolation. In birds, some of the most phylogenetically distant hybrid combinations occur between genera. Traditionally, morphological and plumage characters have been used to assign the identity of the parental speciesLeft out in the rain: Comparing productivity of two associated species exposes a leak in the umbrella species concept
Multi-species approaches to wildlife management have become commonplace and purport to benefit entire biological communities. These strategies aim to manage different, often taxonomically distant species under a single regime based on shared habitat associations and/or co-occurrence in the landscape. We tested the efficacy of multi-species management in the context of creating and maintaining earlAssessment of the American woodcock singing-ground survey zone timing and coverage
The American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-Ground Survey (SGS) was developed to inform management decisions by monitoring changes in the relative abundance of woodcock. The timing of the designated survey windows was designed to count resident woodcock while minimizing counting of migrating woodcock. Since the implementation of the SGS in 1968, concerns over survey protocoEstimating density and effective area surveyed for American woodcock
The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is conducted annually during the woodcock breeding season, and survey points along survey routes are set 0.4 mile (0.65 km) apart to avoid counting individual birds from >1 listening location. The effective area surveyed (EAS) at a listening point is not known, and may vary as a function of land-cover type or oDetection probability and occupancy of American woodcock during Singing-ground surveys
The Singing-ground Survey (SGS) was designed to exploit the conspicuous breeding-season display of male American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) to monitor these otherwise inconspicuous birds. The SGS was standardized in 1968 and has since been conducted annually to derive an index of abundance and population trend. Counts of singing male woodcock on the SGS have generally declinedJuvenile Sandhill Cranes exhibit wider ranging and more exploratory movements than adults during the breeding season
Sandhill Cranes Antigone canadensis exhibit delayed sexual maturity and breeding, and therefore juvenile Cranes searching for suitable territories to occupy have different ecological constraints on movements than adults, which must defend a territory and raise young. We used fine-scale GPS telemetry data to characterize and compare movements of adult and juvenile Cranes near the boundary between tSay what? Bivalent singing in Vermivora warblers
No abstract available.Migratory connectivity of American woodcock derived using satellite telemetry
American woodcock (Scolopax minor; woodcock) migratory connectivity (i.e., association between breeding and wintering areas) is largely unknown, even though current woodcock management is predicated on such associations. Woodcock are currently managed in the Eastern and Central management regions in the United States with the boundary between management regions analogous to the boundary between th