"Phenology - the timing of seasonal activities of animals and plants - is perhaps the simplest process in which to track changes in the ecology of species in response to climate change." (IPCC 2007)
What's All the Hype About Bird Monitoring??
Birds have an extensive recorded history of migratory pathways and seasonal behaviors. Climate change is causing seasonal mismatches between the southern and northern climates resulting in birds migrating later due to colder weather in the south; while their food sources are emerging earlier in the north. Due to the major ecological roles they play (pictured below) and the well-documented history and migratory patterns, birds make prime candidates for phenological research!
The USA National Phenology Network tracks the emergence of seasons throughout the United States. The emergence of spring is a critical time for millions of organism's life cycle and survival. All organisms that have evolved together survive by breeding and migrating and on this very strict and fast paced timeline. Climate change is causing seasonal mismatches world-wide. Meaning the plants and insects in one region emerge from their winter dormant state to begin their life cycle, but the birds that migrate south in the spring arrive a month late to the region because the south had an extra month of winter; while the northern region had spring arrive a month early. To put the issue into perspective imagine this scenario. You are invited to a big dinner event that starts at 6 pm. Then there was a change of plans due to unforeseen events and now the dinner begins at 5 pm, but no one informed you of the change so you arrive at 6 pm hungry and the food is gone. Luckily for humans we can still find a new food source to satisfy our needs, but birds cannot. Therefore, survival becomes very difficult. See the map for the spring arrival from USANPN as of April 2018 for a visual.
Monitoring Site Locations
The bird feeder study (PASSER project) consists of a camera sensor monitored bird feeder in a residential backyard in Radford, Virginia
The point count surveys were conducted at The Selu Conservancylocated in Radford, Virginia. The Selu Conservancy provides us with various habitat types to perform surveys in such as wetland, forest, and field habitats.
What is a point count survey?
Point count bird surveying is the most widely used quantitative survey method because it's quick, it does not require much labor, and it yields accurate results. During a point count survey, observers will stay in a single space while watching and listening for birds during a standardized period of time. Each bird seen or heard during this time is recorded. Conducting 3 point count surveys at a specific habitat will represent about 90% of the total species present in that area. On average, over 60% of the species are detected within the first 4 minutes of observing, which is an extremely short time spent compared to other survey methods. Point counts are considered a "passive" method of surveying, while "active" surveying is any method containing a bait (Bird feeder/recorded calls) that attract the birds.
PASSER: Programmable Automated System for Songbird Ecobehavioral Research.
Radford University launched this project in order to study the physical activity of songbirds in relation to the surrounding environment. One major observation involves the daily feeding patterns of these birds, and how they vary between species and/or the correlating habitat conditions. Data is collected by using high-tech bird feeders (AKA: Smart-feeders) that use microcomputer technology to collect high quality aspects of bird activity on a 24/7 basis. Some obstacles that come along with bird monitoring are resolved due to the use of these smart-feeders, such as a significant reduction in required researchers and time spent observing.
Resources: Photo of Eastern bluebird on post with insect by: Laurie Lawler/ ABC.org All photos on page without accreditation are from the public domain.
Kelly, J.F., Horton, P.M., de Beurs, K.M., Fagin, T., Bridge, E.S., and Chilson, P.B. 2016. Novel measures of continental-scale avian migration phenology related to proximate environmental cues. Ecosphere. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1434
(n.d.). The Institute for Bird Population. Why Study Birds. Web. 2015. Retrieved April 04, 2018.
Ralph, C. John; Sauer, John R.; Droege, Sam, technical editors. 1995. Monitoring Bird Populations by Point Counts. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR- 149. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, US. Department of Agriculture; 187 p.
Sercioglu, C. H., Daily, G. C., Ehlrich, P.R.(2004). Ecosystem consequences of bird declines. The National Academy of Sciences. http://www.pnas.org/content/101/52/180424
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