International Bird Conservation Partnership

IBCP CONCISE SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES 2021IN 2021, IBCP WORKED TO ADVANCE OUR MISSION OF FOSTERING RESEARCH, OUTREACH, AND PARTNERSHIPS TO ADVANCE THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS THROUGH A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES THAT ARE SUMMARIZED BELOW. ADDITIONAL DETAILS ARE PROVIDED ON OUR WEBSITE: HTTPS://WWW.BIRDPARTNERS.ORG/NEWSRESEARCH:WE PUBLISHED A PAPER ON THE IMPACTS OF BISON REINTRODUCTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ON BOBOLINKS, LONG-DISTANCE MIGRATORY SONGBIRDS BREEDING IN THE NORTH AMERICAN GREAT PLAINS, IN THE PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ANIMALS. TOGETHER WITH EGYPTIAN COLLEAGUES, WE PUBLISHED ANOTHER PEER-REVIEWED PAPER ON BIRD SURVEY METHODS IN HIGH DESERT ENVIRONMENTS IN THE JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS. WE ALSO WORKED WITH COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA TO PUBLISH A THIRD PEER-REVIEWED PAPER IN THE JOURNAL ANIMALS ON NEBRASKA RANCHERS WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE THEIR GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO AVOID DISTURBING NESTING SONGBIRDS UNTIL THEIR CHICKS HAD FLEDGED. WE ALSO CONDUCTED LITERATURE REVIEWS, ANALYZED AND INTERPRETED DATA, AND PREPARED MANUSCRIPTS FOR ADDITIONAL SCIENTIFIC PAPERS ON BIRD ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION TO BE SUBMITTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE FUTURE. IN JUNE-JULY AND NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, WE CONDUCTED FIELD RESEARCH ON BIRDS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON CRITICALLY ENDANGERED VULTURES, IN GHANA AND TOGO WITH LOCAL COLLABORATORS AND PLANNED CONSERVATION ACTIONS TO TRY TO PREVENT THEIR ONGOING DECLINES. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WE HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING FIELD SURVEYS TO CREATE AN AREA BIRD INVENTORY IN AGUARUNA INDIGENOUS TERRITORIES IN NORTHERN PERU, INCLUDING SCIENTIFIC, AGUARUNA, ENGLISH, AND SPANISH NAMES; BENJAMIN SALAZAR IS INVESTIGATING BIRDS ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, CONSERVATION NEEDS, AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE IN THIS REGION.OUTREACH:WE CONDUCTED A SYMPOSIUM ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN PROTECTED AREAS IN AFRICA AT THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY VIRTUAL MEETING, HIGHLIGHTING SPEAKERS FROM GHANA. WE MADE THREE PRESENTATIONS AT THE UK-BASED MIGRATORY LANDBIRD STUDY GROUP ON THE SUBJECTS OF PEREGRINE FALCON MIGRATION BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, THE RESPONSES OF TWO MIGRATORY SONGBIRDS, DICKCISSELS AND BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, TO REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON THEIR BREEDING GROUNDS IN NEBRASKA, AND ON AFRO-PALEARCTIC MIGRATORY BIRDS WINTERING IN WOODLAND-SAVANNA HABITATS OF NORTHERN GHANA. WE ALSO DELIVERED A LECTURE ENTITLED, MEASURING SUSTAINABILITY: USING BIRDS TO STUDY BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION BY VIDEO AS PART OF CAIRO UNIVERSITYS SUSTAINABILITY DAY. WE MADE THREE PRESENTATIONS ON MIGRATORY BIRDS AT THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. SAMUEL BOAKYE YIADOM SPOKE ON ARRIVAL TIME AND HABITAT USE OF MIGRATORY BIRDS WINTERING IN NORTHERN GHANA, WEST AFRICA. KRISTEN ROSAMOND PRESENTED, NOT SINGING IN THE RAIN: LINKING MIGRATORY SONGBIRD DECLINES WITH INCREASING PRECIPITATION AND BROOD PARASITISM VULNERABILITY. NICO ARCILLA PRESENTED A COLLABORATIVE STUDY WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN, IS HAY FOR THE BIRDS? INVESTIGATING LANDOWNER WILLINGNESS TO TIME HAY HARVESTS FOR GRASSLAND BIRD CONSERVATION. THIS PAPER WAS FEATURED IN THE NEWS SITE, PROGRESSIVE FARMER, IN AN ARTICLE BY RUSS QUINN, ENTITLED, SANDHILLS RANCHERS COULD HELP GRASSLAND BIRD POPULATION.WE ALSO PRESENTED RESEARCH ON BIRDS IN AMAZONIAN WHITE-SAND FORESTS AND PEREGRINE FALCON MIGRATION AT THE PERUVIAN ORNITHOLOGY CONGRESS, AND ANNOUNCED THE BEINGOLEA GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCHERS AT THE RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION. WE PUBLISHED THREE ARTICLES IN SCIENCEX, AN ONLINE PUBLICATION, TO PROVIDE POPULAR SUMMARIES OF OUR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS ENTITLED, NO HOME WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM? BIRDS DECLINE AFTER BISON RETURN TO CONSERVATION GRASSLANDS, HOW TO COUNT BIRDS WHEN EVERY BIRD COUNTS: CHOOSING THE BEST SURVEY APPROACH IN DESERT MOUNTAINS, AND STUDY FINDS LANDOWNERS WILLING TO PROTECT GRASSLAND BIRDS NESTING IN THEIR HAY FIELDS. WE CONTRIBUTED TO AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY JOHN C. CANNON ON THE ONLINE NATURE CONSERVATION NEWS SITE, MONGABAY, ENTITLED DECLINE OF THREATENED BIRD HIGHLIGHTS PLANNING IMPORTANCE OF BISON RELEASES. WE ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO A UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA POCKET SCIENCE ARTICLE ENTITLED, LOSING GROUND? DENSE BISON HERDS MAY THREATEN NESTING BIRD SPECIES. WE FEATURED TWO PERSPECTIVES ARTICLES ON OUR WEBSITE. IBCP BOARD MEMBER LYN GUBSER CONTRIBUTED AN ARTICLE ENTITLED SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES: RESTORING FIRE-DEVASTATED FOREST HABITAT. IBCP COLLABORATOR MARIS STRAZDS CONTRIBUTED AN ARTICLE ENTITLED, PROTECTING MATURE TREES AND RIVERS: A LIFELINE FOR THE FUTURE OF BLACK STORKS AND MANY OTHER BIRDS. NICO AND KRISTEN CONTRIBUTED AN ARTICLE ENTITLED, RAISING AWARENESS OF CALIFORNIA SHOREBIRDS AND THEIR CONSERVATION NEEDS, AND ANOTHER ENTITLED, IN SEARCH OF VULTURES SECRETS: A JOURNEY THROUGH TOGO, WEST AFRICA. WE ALSO POSTED BIRD PHOTOGRAPHS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AS PART OF OUR BIRD OF THE DAY SERIES, MANY OF WHICH OF WERE ACCOMPANIED BY FUN FACTS, AS SUGGESTED BY LYN.PARTNERSHIPS:IN ADDITION TO THE PARTNERSHIPS MENTIONED ABOVE, WE CONTINUED TO WORK WITH THE RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION (RRF) TO CREATE THE OSCAR BEINGOLEA RAPTOR RESEARCH GRANT TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FIELD RESEARCH ON RAPTORS IN LATIN AMERICA; THE 2021 WINNERS REPRESENTED PERU AND COLOMBIA. WE ALSO PROVIDED SUPPORT TO RESEARCHERS IN PERU, COLOMBIA, ARGENTINA, VENEZUELA, AND MEXICO CONDUCTING GRASSROOTS PROJECTS TO ADVANCE FIELD RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION OF BIRDS OF PREY. WE ALSO CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKAS CEDAR POINT RESEARCH STATION AND CONTRIBUTED TO A GRANT PROPOSAL FOR A MOTUS WILDLIFE TRACKING STATION TO STUDY BIRD MOVEMENT ECOLOGY AND MIGRATION; THE GRANT PROPOSAL WAS FUNDED IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000 BY THE LINCOLN-BASED COOPER FOUNDATION FOR WORK TO COMMENCE IN 2022. WE ALSO WORKED WITH PARTNERS AT CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS AND POINT BLUE CONSERVATION SCIENCE TO INSTALL CONSERVATION SIGNS INFORMING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THREATENED SNOWY PLOVERS ON BEACHES IN CARMEL AND MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA. WE WORKED WITH COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GHANA WILDLIFE DIVISION IN VULTURE AND OTHER BIRD MONITORING IN MOLE NATIONAL PARK, THE LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN GHANA. WE ALSO DESIGNED, PRODUCED AND DONATED TO THE GHANA WILDLIFE DIVISION 200 PHOTOGRAPHIC BROCHURES IDENTIFYING BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF MOLE NATIONAL PARK. WE ALSO WORKED WITH COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOM TO ESTABLISH A COLLABORATION, INCLUDING APPLYING FOR A PERMIT TO CONDUCT BIRD SURVEYS IN FAZAO-MALFAKASSA NATIONAL PARK, THE LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN TOGO.