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
Shorebird Research
With its vast size, numerous huge embayments, and geographic position at a terminus of numerous migration pathways, Alaska is a critically important site for the world’s shorebirds. Thirty-seven shorebird species regularly breed in Alaska, and an additional 36 species have been recorded in the state. These numbers represent nearly a third of the world’s known shorebird species. Most of these...
Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well-described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull fecal samples longitudinally from...
Ahlstrom, Christina; Bonnedahl, Jonas; Woksepp, Hanna; Hernandez, Jorge; Reed, John; Tibbitts, Lee; Olsen, Björn; Douglas, David C.; Ramey, Andrew M. Flexible timing of annual movements across consistently used sites by Marbled Godwits breeding in Alaska
The study of avian movement has detailed a spectrum of strategies for the timing and use of sites throughout the annual cycle, from near randomness to complete consistency. New tracking devices now permit the repeated tracking of individual animals throughout the annual cycle, detailing previously unappreciated levels of variation within migratory...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Tibbitts, Lee; Gill, Robert E. Inventory of lowland-breeding birds on the Alaska Peninsula
We conducted the first systematic inventory of birds in the lowlands (areas ≤100 m above sea level) of the Alaska Peninsula during summers of 2004–2007 to determine their breeding distributions and habitat associations in this remote region. Using a stratified random survey design, we allocated sample plots by elevation and land cover with a...
Savage, Susan E.; Tibbitts, Lee; Sesser, Kristin; Kaler, Robb S.A. Fuelling conditions at staging sites can mitigate Arctic warming effects in a migratory bird
Under climate warming, migratory birds should align reproduction dates with advancing plant and arthropod phenology. To arrive on the breeding grounds earlier, migrants may speed up spring migration by curtailing the time spent en route, possibly at the cost of decreased survival rates. Based on a decades-long series of observations along an...
Rakhimberdiev, Eldar; Duijns, Sjoerd; Karagicheva, Julia; Camphuysen, Cornelis J.; Dekinga, Anne; Dekker, Rob; Gavrilov, Anatoly; ten Horn, Job; Jukema, Joop; Saveliev, Anatoly; Soloviev, Mikhail; Tibbitts, Lee; van Gils, Jan A.; Piersma, Theunis; Castricum, VRS Montane-breeding bird distribution and abundance across national parks of southwestern Alaska
Between 2004 and 2008, biologists conducted an inventory of breeding birds during May–June primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers...
Amundson, Courtney L.; Handel, Colleen M.; Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Gill, Robert E. Testing an attachment method for solar-powered tracking devices on a long-distance migrating shorebird
Small solar-powered satellite transmitters and GPS data loggers enable continuous, multi-year, and global tracking of birds. What is lacking, however, are reliable methods to attach these tracking devices to small migratory birds so that (1) flight performance is not impacted and (2) tags are retained during periods of substantial mass change...
Chan, Ying-Chi; Brugge, Martin; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Dekinga, Anne; Porter, Ron; Klaassen, Raymond H. G.; Piersma, Theunis When Siberia came to the Netherlands: The response of continental black-tailed godwits to a rare spring weather event
Summary Extreme weather events have the potential to alter both short- and long-term population dynamics as well as community- and ecosystem-level function. Such events are rare and stochastic, making it difficult to fully document how organisms respond to them and predict the repercussions of similar events in the future. To improve our...
Senner, Nathan R.; Verhoeven, Mo A.; Abad-Gómez, José M.; Gutiérrez, Jorge S.; Hooijmeijer, Jos C. E. W.; Kentie, Rosemarie; Masero, José A.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Piersma, Theunis Spatial genetic structure of bristle-thighed curlews (Numenius tahitiensis): Breeding area differentiation not reflected on the non-breeding grounds
Migratory birds occupy geographically and ecologically disparate areas during their annual cycle with conditions on breeding and non-breeding grounds playing separate and important roles in population dynamics. We used data from nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA control region loci to assess the breeding and non-breeding spatial genetic...
Sonsthagen, Sarah A.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Gill, Robert E.; Williams, Ian S.; Talbot, Sandra L. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
No abstract available
Tibbitts, T. Lee; Moskoff, William Annual migratory patterns of long-billed curlews in the American west
Effective conservation of migratory species requires comprehensive knowledge of annual movement patterns. Such information is sparse for the Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus), a North American endemic shorebird of conservation concern. To test hypotheses about individual and area differences in migratory patterns across western North...
Page, Gary W.; Warnock, Nils; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Jorgensen, Dennis; Hartman, C. Alex; Stenzel, Lynne E. Hemispheric-scale wind selection facilitates bar-tailed godwit circum-migration of the Pacific
The annual 29 000 km long migration of the bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica baueri, around the Pacific Ocean traverses what is arguably the most complex and seasonally structured atmospheric setting on Earth. Faced with marked variation in wind regimes and storm conditions across oceanic migration corridors, individuals must make critical...
Gill, Robert E.; Douglas, David C.; Handel, Colleen M.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Hufford, Gary; Piersma, Theunis Post-breeding migration of Dutch-breeding black-tailed godwits: timing, routes, use of stopovers, and nonbreeding destinations
Conservation of long-distance migratory shorebirds is complex because these species use habitats spread across continents and hemispheres, making identification of critical habitats and potential bottlenecks in the annual cycle especially difficult. The population of Black-tailed Godwits that breeds in Western Europe, Limosa limosa limosa,...
Hooijmeijer, Jos C. E. W.; Senner, Nathan R.; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Gill, Robert E.; Douglas, David C.; Bruinzeel, Leo W.; Wymenga, Eddy; Piersma, Theunis