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 Tundra Swan (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, 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...
Past Shorebird Research
Below is information on past USGS research projects.
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
Inventory Data of Lowland-Breeding Birds and Associated Vegetation Types on the Alaska Peninsula, 2004-2007
These are raw field data from a stratified random survey to inventory the birds breeding in lowlands (elevation below 100m) of the Alaska Peninsula, during summers 2004-2007. Data were collected at 792 survey points on 52 5-km x 5-km plots. The data are in: 1) four PDF files of digitally scanned original field data forms describing each of the 52 plots, and 2) a ZIP package containing 2824...
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).
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, 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, Lee; Tamar Lok; Chris Hassell; He-Bo Peng; 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, Lee; Ruthrauff, Daniel R. 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. Survival of Bristle-thighed Curlews equipped with externally mounted transmitters
Telemetry devices are widely used in avian research, but the degree to which the deployment of such devices affects the survival of study subjects is often not addressed. It is generally assumed that such effects are less pronounced in large-bodied species that conduct relatively short migrations and carry relatively light telemetry devices. We...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Tibbitts, Lee; Patil, Vijay P. 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.