Lee Tibbitts
Shorebird ecology, population monitoring, waterbird conservation.
Biography
Education
M.S. 2000 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Wildlife Biology
B.S. 1982 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Biology
Professional Experience
1998 - Present Wildlife Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1988 - 1998 Biological Technician/General Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/ National Biological Service, Anchorage, Alaska
1981 - 1988 Various biotechnical positions, federal/ state wildlife agencies and universities, Oregon and Hawaii
Professional Activities and/or Memberships
Wilson Ornithological Society
American Ornithologist's Union
Cooper Ornithological Society
Association of Field Ornithologists
Waterbird Society
Wader Study Group
Science and Products
Tracking Data for Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Available here are tracking data for the whimbrel, a striking example of a shorebird with its long and curved bill. The whimbrel is found throughout tundra and boreal habitats of Alaska during the summer and spends the winter along coast lines of the continental U.S., and central and South America. These data were collected to better understand the migratory patterns of this iconic species....
Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus)
Available here are tracking data of Tundra Swans, a species that nests in coastal areas throughout Alaska and winters across a broad area of North America from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of habitats in breeding, wintering, and migratory areas of North America.
USGS Alaska Science Center Wildlife Tracking Data Collection
Understanding the short- and long-distance movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research questions and management decisions. Since the mid-1980s, the USGS Alaska Science Center has used information from telemetry devices on wildlife species to determine locations of animals throughout their annual cycles, understand patterns of habitat use, quantify time spent on...
Tracking Data for Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa)
Available here are tracking data of Marbled Godwits, a large-bodied shorebird that, in Alaska, nests in the southwestern portion of the state. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of different coastal areas in the Pacific region.
Shorebird Research
With its vast size and geographic position at the northern end of several migration pathways, Alaska is a critically important site for the world’s shorebirds. Thirty-seven shorebird species regularly breed in Alaska. Most of these species conduct epically long migrations to take advantage of Alaska’s abundant food resources and breeding habitat, making Alaska a global resource for shorebirds...
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from nine satellite transmitters attached to Marbled Godwits on their breeding range in southwest Alaska, USA. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates and decode raw sensor
Migratory Timing and Site Use of Marbled Godwits Breeding in Alaska, 2008–2015
This dataset contains migration timing and land-based location information from nine Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa beringiae) equipped with solar-powered satellite transmitters on breeding grounds near Ugashik, Alaska, in June of 2008. Transmitters were programmed with a duty cycle of 10 hr on and 48 hr off, yielding 10,858 locations (47-3,490 locations per bird, depending on th
Bristle-thighed Curlew Capture Data from James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, O'ahu, Hawaii, 2012-2014
This data set contains banding, morphology, and satellite telemetry information for Bristle-thighed curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) that were captured between 2012 and 2014 on the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii (21.68 N, -157.95 W).
Central-West Siberian-breeding Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica) segregate in two morphologically distinct flyway populations
Long-distance migratory species often include multiple breeding populations, with distinct migration routes, wintering areas and annual-cycle timing. Detailed knowledge on population structure and migratory connectivity provides the basis for studies on the evolution of migration strategies and for species conservation. Currently, five subspecies...
Zhijun Ma; Bom, Roeland A.; Conklin, Jesse R.; Verkuil, Yvonne I.; Alves, José A.; De Fouw, Jimmy; Dekinga, Anne; Hassell, Chris J.; Kwarteng, Andy Y.; Klaassen, Raymond H. G.; Rakhimberdiev, Eldar; Rocha, Afonso; ten Horn, Job; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Tomkovich, Pavel S.; Victor, Reginald; Piersma, Theunis Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska-breeding Whimbrels
Birds that conduct long-distance migrations exhibit varied patterns of consistency in migratory timing and site use. Understanding variation in these traits among populations can help uncover mechanisms driving migratory behaviors and identify potential population threats. Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) are long-distance migratory shorebirds with a...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Harwood, Christopher M.; Tibbitts, Lee; Warnock, Nils; Gill, Robert E. When a typical jumper skips: Itineraries and staging habitats used by Red Knots (Calidris canutus piersmai) migrating between northwest Australia and the New Siberian Islands
The ecological reasons for variation in avian migration, with some populations migrating across thousands of kilometres between breeding and non-breeding areas with one or few refuelling stops, in contrast to others that stop more often, remain to be pinned down. Red Knots Calidris canutus are a textbook example of a shorebird species...
Piersma, Theunis; Kok, Eva; Hassell, Chris J.; Verkuil, Yvonne I.; Lei, Guangchun; Peng, He-Bo; Rakhimberdiev, Eldar; Howey, Paul; Chan, Ying-Chi; Tibbitts, Lee; Karagicheva, Julia Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic
The Arctic is entering a new ecological state, with alarming consequences for humanity. Animal-borne sensors offer a window into these changes. Although substantial animal tracking data from the Arctic and subarctic exist, most are difficult to discover and access. Here, we present the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), a growing...
Davidson, Sarah C; Bohrer, Gil; Gurarie, Eliezer; LaPoint, Scott; Mahoney, Peter J; Boelman, Natalie; Eitel, Jan UH; Prugh, Laura R.; Vierling, Lee A.; Jennewein, Jyoti; Grier, Emma; Couriot, Ophélie; Kelly, Allicia P; Meddens, Arjan JH; Oliver, Ruth Y; Kays, Roland; Wikelski, Martin; Aarvak, Tomas; Ackerman, Joshua T.; Almeida e Silva, Mónica; Alves, José A.; Bayne, Erin; Bedrosian, Bryan; Belant, Jerrold L.; Berdahl, Andrew M; Berlin, Alicia; Berteaux, Dominique; Bêty, Joël; Boiko, Dmitrij; Booms, Travis L.; Borg, Bridget L; Boutin, Stan; Boyd, W Sean; Brides, Kane; Brown, Stephen C.; Bulyuk, Victor N.; Burnham, Kurt K; Cabot, David; Casazza, Michael L.; Christie, Katherine S.; Craig, Erica H.; Davis, Shanti E.; Davison, Tracy; Demma, Dominic; DeSorbo, Christopher R.; Dixon, Andrew E.; Domenech, Robert; Eichhorn, Götz; Elliott, Kyle; Evenson, Joseph R.; Exo, Klaus-Michael; Ferguson, Steven; Fiedler, Wolfgang; Fisk, Aaron T.; Fort, J.; Franke, Alastair; Fuller, Mark R.; Garthe, Stefan; Gauthier, Gilles; Gilchrist, Grant; Glazov, Petr; Gray, Carrie E.; Grémillet, David; Griffin, Larry; Hallworth, Mike; Harrison, Autumn-Lynn; Hennin, Holly; Hipfner, J Mark; Hodson, James; Johnson, James A.; Joly, Kyle; Jones, Kimberly; Katzner, Todd E.; Kidd, Jeff W; Knight, Elly; Kochert, Michael N.; Kölzsch, Andrea; Kruckenberg, Helmut; Lagassé, Benjamin J; Lai, Sandra; Lamarre, Jean-François; Lanctot, Richard B.; Larter, Nicholas C; Latham, A David; Latty, Christopher J.; Lawler, James P.; Léandri-Breton, Don-Jean; Lee, Hansoo; Lewis, Stephen B.; Love, Oliver P.; Madsen, Jesper; Maftei, Mark; Mallory, Mark L.; Mangipane, Buck; Markovets, Mikhail Y.; Marra, Peter P.; McGuire, Rebecca L; McIntyre, Carol; McKinnon, Emily A; Miller, Tricia A.; Moonen, Sander; Mu, Tong; Müskens, Gerhard JDM; Ng, Janet; Nicholson, Kerry L; Jostein Øien, Ingar; Overton, Cory T.; Owen, Patricia A; Patterson, Allison G. L.; Petersen, Aevar; Pokrovsky, Ivan; Powell, Luke L.; Prieto, Rui; Quillfeldt, Petra; Rausch, Jennie; Russell, Kelsey; Saalfeld, Sarah T.; Schekkerman, Hans; Schmutz, Joel A.; Schwemmer, Philipp; Seip, Dale R.; Shreading, Adam; Silva, Mónica A.; Smith, Brian W.; Smith, Fletcher; Smith, Jeff P.; Snell, Katherine RS; Sokolov, Aleksandr; Sokolov, Vasiliy; Solovyeva, Diana V; Sorum, Mathew S; Tertitski, Grigori; Therrien, J F; Thorup, Kasper; Tibbitts, Lee; Tulp, Ingrid; Uher-Koch, Brian D.; van Bemmelen, Rob SA; Van Wilgenburg, Steve; Von Duyke, Andrew L.; Watson, Jesse; Watts, Bryan D; Williams, Judy A; Wilson, Matthew; Wright, Jay; Yates, Michael A; Yurkowski, David; Žydelis, Ramūnas; Hebblewhite, Mark
Shorebird research at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center
Shorebirds—which include sandpipers, plovers, and oystercatchers—are perhaps best known by their presence on sandy beaches, running along the water’s edge while they probe for food. But they are probably less recognized for their impressive long-distance migrations. Millions of individuals travel from across the globe to breed throughout Alaska...
Ruthrauff, Dan; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Pearce, John After-hatch and hatch year Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Calidris subruficollis) can be sexed accurately using morphometric measures
Determining the sex of birds quickly in the field can help in studies of behavior and distribution, and when selecting particular sexes for deploying tracking devices or collecting samples. However, discerning males from females is difficult in species that are plumage monomorphic and have overlapping sexual-size dimorphism, as in Buff-breasted...
Almeida, Juliana B.; Lopes, Iara F.; Oring, Lewis; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Pajot, Lisa M.; Lanctot, Richard B. A red knot as a black swan: How a single bird shows navigational abilities during repeat crossings of the Greenland Icecap
Despite the wealth of studies on seasonal movements of birds between southern nonbreeding locations and High Arctic breeding locations, the key mechanisms of navigation during these migrations remain elusive. A flight along the shortest possible route between pairs of points on a sphere (‘orthodrome’) requires a bird to be able to assess its...
Kok, Eva; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Douglas, David C.; Howey, Paul; Dekinga, Anne; Gnep, Benjamin; Piersma, Theunis Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth
Birds often exhibit diagnostic traits that differ among individuals of the same species with regard to factors like sex, age, or breeding status. Shorebirds exhibit a wide diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes of their bills, and these traits are commonly used to determine the sex of individuals. In curlews (genus Numenius), length alone...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Handel, Colleen M.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Gill, Robert E. Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags
We used Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags to track migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva in 2017 and 2018 from Moorea Island, at the extreme southeastern edge of the species’ winter range. Of 20 tagged birds, 13 uploaded locations during all or part of their northward migration. The birds departed in mid-April traveling a long (8,250...
Johnson, Oscar W. ; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Weber, Michael F. ; Bybee, David R. ; Goodwill, Roger H. ; Bruner, Andrea ; Smith, Errika J. ; Buss, Emmalee L.; Waddell, Trinity Q.A. ; Brooks, Daxton ; Smith, Carolyn ; Meyer, Jean-Yves Factors promoting the recolonization of Oahu, Hawaii, by Bristle-thighed Curlews
Suitable habitat for Arctic-breeding migratory shorebirds is decreasing at their traditional wintering islands and atolls in the Central Pacific Flyway (i.e., Oceania) due to habitat degradation, reclamation, and sea-level rise. To maintain the size and resiliency of their populations, migratory shorebirds will need to expand their winter ranges...
Tibbitts, T. Lee; Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Underwood, Jared G.; Patil, Vijay P. Filling knowledge gaps in a threatened shorebird flyway through satellite tracking
Satellite‐based technologies that track individual animal movements enable the mapping of their spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence. This is particularly useful in poorly studied or remote regions where there is a need for the rapid gathering of relevant ecological knowledge to inform management actions. One such region is East Asia, where...
Yin-Chi Chan; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Tamar Lok; Chris Hassell; Peng, He-Bo; Zhijun Ma; Zhengwang Zhang; Theunis Piersma Shorebird subsistence harvest and indigenous knowledge in Alaska: Informing harvest assessment and management, and engaging users in shorebird conservation
Limited data on harvest and population parameters are major impediments to assess shorebird harvest sustainability. Because of sharp declines in shorebird populations, timely conservation efforts require approaches that account for uncertainty in harvest sustainability. We combined harvest assessment and ethnographic research to better understand...
Naves. Liliana; Keating, Jacqueline; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Ruthrauff, Daniel R.
Story Map of the Incredible Migration of Whimbrels
This story map describes the work of researchers from different organizations that document the migration of Whimbrels breeding in North America. Focusing on three individual birds from different parts of the species' breeding range, researchers used externally mounted solar-powered transmitters to monitor migratory movements and identify sites and habitats important to migratory shorebirds...