Paper Presentation at the 127th AOU Meeting, Philadelphia, PA

It’s been a while since I added to the blog. I have been feverishly analyzing the results from this and past summers’ data. I have also been preparing a powerpoint presentation, with the help of Dave Hjelm (OIT, Saint Anselm College) and Sherry Chakrin (ThreadFed.com).


I finally gave the paper presentation, Song variation in the Mourning Warbler, at the 127th stated meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union at the University of Pennsylvania on 13 August, 2009.

The take-home message of my research was that I discovered 4 major regiolects in the breeding range of the Mourning Warbler. A regiolect is similar to a dialect but it occurs on a larger geographic scale (hundreds to thousands of kilometers - see map below). Each regiolect is characterized by 1-3 songs unique to that region (see song types in the previous posting, 14 July). There is also an interesting Hybrid zone in western Ontario where some birds sing hybrid songs. A hybrid song contains a mix of syllables from the western and eastern regiolcets.


Regiolect Map



A second important finding was that the birds were able to discriminate among the song types. They directed more aggression towards their home regiolect versus foreign regiolects (e.g., Western birds more aggressive toward Western songs versus Eastern, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland song types). I have a graph below with the data for several behavior variables I measured during the playback experiments. Many playback experiments on dialect discrimination in other species have produced similar results.


Bar Charts and Sonograms of Focal males used in the experiments



One of the highlights of the meeting was seeing Saint Anselm alum, Dave DesRochers, class of 2000. Dave is a former Biology major from our Department and winner of the Craig C. Hieber award in Biology. Dave is completing his research on conservation of the Hawaiian Moorhen. Dave was co-author on a paper delivered by his advisor and first author on a poster at the meeting’s poster session.

Dave DesRochers and Dr. Jay at the AOU Zoo night (Philadelphia Zoo)



This projected was funded by a Saint Anselm College 2009 summer research grant to Jay Pitocchelli.

More work and podcasts

I am back at work analyzing this summer's data. I have been examining the digital recordings from the Great Lakes region and comparing them to the previous summers' recordings from Canada.


I have been tabulating the data from the playback experiments. The preliminary results look very compelling. Western birds appear to recognize differences between their own dialects and different dialects from eastern North America, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Eastern birds also appear to show a similar pattern of recognition and discrimination. I will report more solid findings later this summer. I will continue to conduct more statistical tests beginning this week.


The College has recently interviewed me about my work and has posted podcasts on the College's website. The first podcast contains an overview of the pattern of geographic variation and some examples of songs from the breeding range.

The images below are sonograms or pictorial representations of the digital recordings of these songs. The x-axis is time in seconds and the y-axis is frequency in kHz.

Eastern Regiolect (Girardville, Quebec)



Newfoundland Regiolect (Burgeo, Newfoundland)




Nova Scotia Regiolect (Wreck Cove, Nova Scotia)



Western Regiolect (Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan)



The second podcast is an interview and description of the project and how I have been conducting field research.

I just finished editing this video of a Western Gull. It is extremely similar to our Great Black-backed Gull.


Western Gull

Back in the Granite State 2009

We took the red-eye flight in from San Francisco and finally arrived home early Saturday morning at the Manchester airport.

I am posting some recent videos of more western species and some interesting behaviors I observed.

The Spotted Towhee is a close relative of our Eastern Towhee. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Rufous-sided Towhee complex but they were recently split into different species. This video is of a male Spotted Towhee exhibiting "scratching" behavior among Acacia leaves and bark in Sonoma. This male is scratching the leaf litter for food. Scratching behavior is very common among many different groups of birds.


Spotted Towhee




This next video is of the Oregon race of the Dark-eyed Junco. This species is one of the most variable in North America with several recognizable and defined subspecies. The Oregon race is very different from our local Slate-colored variant or (currently) subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco. Although Junco populations vary morphologically from each other, they are still considered subspecies or races of a single species, the Dark-eyed Junco.


Oregon Junco





I like the Black Phoebe for some odd reason so I have included another close-up of this species from downtown Healdsburg near the Bear Republic microbrewery. It is reminiscent of our Eastern Phoebe that is a common breeder in the eastern US and Canada.

Black Phoebe





Here is another interesting species, the Oak Titmouse, that was recently part of the Plains Titmouse group. The Plains Titmouse was recently split into 2 separate species - the Oak Titmouse that breeds in western California and the more eastern Juniper Titmouse from the Great Basin. It is similar to our eastern species, the Tufted Titmouse.

Oak Titmouse

On Vacation 2009 - California Part 2

Kris and I just returned from a hike through the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. We went on the Pioneer, East Ridge and Pool Ridge trails for a 5 mile hike.


The trails take you through the bottomlands that are filled with enormous Redwood trees. I am here with the most famous tree in the reserve - the Colonel Armstrong that is more than 1400 years old.




There is little or no ground cover with ferns and oxtails that give it a pre-historic feel. The birding highlights included more western species like the Steller’s Jay and Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

On Vacation – California 2009 Part 1

I’m on vacation with my wife this week in Sonoma, California. However, the birding never stops. I am up to my ears in western species, some of which I have seen before and some of which are new. I have some videos here of some of the western specialties from wine country.

We first attended the 4th of July Parade in Sonoma that featured this Grizzly Bear family, symbol of the Bear Republic.




California Quail male and family



California Quail male



Western Scrub Jay juvenile



Acorn Woodpecker




California Towhee

New Hampshire 2009 Part 2

Mourning Warbler habitat, Franconia, NH

Today was the final day of field work for this summer. I recorded several more male Mourning Warblers from Franconia, NH but only added 2 more playback experiments.

Nonetheless, I am very happy with the results of the field work for this year. I have some great data from the Great Lakes, the Praries of Canada and New Hampshire. I will spend most of the rest of the summer analyzing this new data and preparing for the presentation at this year's AOU meeting later this summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

More great birding as usual and my sighting are found the June 2009 website.

Next up is a vacation with my wife to Sonoma and Napa Valleys in California.

New Hampshire 2009 Part 1

I revisited 2 study sites in White Mountains National Forest - Twin Mountain and Jefferson. Unfortunately, today was not a great day for Mourning Warbler research. The birds here are not singing with the same intensity as they were in Canada. They may be further along in the breeding cycle (e.g., nesting) and the males may be winding down their territorial behavior.


I only had success with 2 out 6 playback experiments but I did collect some more great data on the responses of Eastern males towards the Western song types. I also scoped out some great habitat here in Franconia for tomorrow morning.

My first successful experiment today was made more interesting when a Common Yellowthroat pair came out to scold me because I must have been close to the nest. The video below is a classic example of the “NESTY” behavior I mentioned earlier this summer.


NESTY Common Yellowthroat female with food





Note that the female who is scolding me here has food in her mouth and was probably about to feed chicks in the nest before I came by. A Mourning Warbler (NH4) is singing in the background.

Here are some photos of the equipment I have been using this summer.


Recording equipment - parabolic microphone, digital recorder and GPS receiver





Playback experiments - iPods and wireless speakers





More great birding as usual and my sighting are found the June 2009 website.

New Hampshire 2009

I am back home in Newbury, NH but the next round of work is just beginning. I have two immediate tasks to complete:


1) conduct more field work in Franconia, NH over the weekend that includes some playback experiments with Mourning Warblers signing the eastern dialect,


2) data management that includes cataloguing, updating and organizing all the digital recordings from this season.


I also have to remember that I am Chair of the Biology Department, get into the office and attend to my Departmental duties.


I have just learned that my abstract, SONG VARIATION IN THE MOURNING WARBLER, that I submitted earlier this month for the upcoming 127th American Ornithologists Union annual meeting at the University of Pennsylvania has been accepted for an oral presentation. I hope to include some of this season's data into this paper. I will also be Chairing that same paper session on Songs and Vocalizations for the meeting.


This summer continues to be filled with great news!

Ontario 2009

I headed east and home after Manitoba and ended up in Wawa, Ontario last night. My next goal was to get as close to Ottawa as possible for a final push driving home on Monday.

As luck would have it, I easily found Mourning Warblers today just south of Wawa. I recorded and conducted playback experiments on 5 more eastern birds versus the western dialects.

Mourning Warbler habitat and territory



I am currently in Pembroke, 1 ½ hours west of Ottawa and headed home tomorrow.

Manitoba 2009 Part 2

I returned to Duck Mountain Provincial Park to complete my playback experiments. I had a great start to the morning of 6/18/09 until one of the iPods I was using did not play its song recordings. When I checked it, I found that my batteries were dying. I had so much success in Saskatchewan that I forgot to check battery power in all of the equipment.


I lost the entire day but the Duck Mountain Provincial Park staff were kind enough to let me recharge the batteries so I could finish up the experiments the following morning – 6/19/09. Technology – can’t live with it and can’t live without it (my language in the field was much different than being reported here).

I finished up the playback experiments on 6/19/09 and just avoided the rain. It pays to get up at 5 am in the morning when you are doing field work. The rain began around 9:00 am. I have some fantastic data to analyze when I get back.

I also made some new videos of birds in the Park and have embedded them here.

Ruffed Grouse Displaying





American White Pelican



Bonaparte's Gull bathing





More great birding as usual and my sighting are found the June 2009 website.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Manitoba 2009 Part 2

I returned to Duck Mountain Provincial Park to complete my playback experiments. I had a great morning until one of the iPods I was using did not play its song recordings. When I checked it, I found that my batteries were dying.


Gas is still much more expensive in Canada at $0.99 – $1.03/liter ($3.75 - $3.90/gallon). Although I would rather pay less, it is a shorter distance going across Canada back to NH then returning through the US.

Saskatchewan 2009 Part 2

I had 2 beautiful sunny days for field work 25 km north of Hudson Bay along Rte. 9 to The Pas. Re-working the playback experiments and substituting the local Hudson Bay birdsongs did the trick. These results and failure of the previous (older) playback experiments are very intriguing because they reveal that the Manitoba and Saskatchewan birds did not react to or recognize Alberta males of the same species. I was not anticipating this result and had to react quickly in the field to adapt to it.

The playback experiments are a critical second part of this field season for me. I mentioned before that I am using playback experiments to determine whether birds can discriminate among the major dialects I have found throughout the breeding range. I am testing the following hypotheses.


1) Mourning Warbler males recognize and are able to discriminate among the major song types from throughout the breeding range. If this hypothesis is true, then territorial males will direct their aggression towards the song type they recognize in a playback experiment.


2) Mourning Warbler males do not recognize and are not able to discriminate among the major song types from throughout the breeding range. If this hypothesis is true, then territorial males will direct their aggression equally towards all song types that they are presented in a playback experiment.

I completed 25 experiments in Saskatchewan testing local Saskatchewan males versus Eastern and Newfoundland dialects.

All playback experiments were successful. The preliminary results suggest that Saskatchewan males recognize but do not react as aggressively towards the Eastern dialect as they do towards other local males. Almost all Saskatchewan males did not recognize the Newfoundland or Nova Scotia songs.


More great birding as usual and my sighting are found the June 2009 website.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Saskatchewan 2009 Part 1

More birds of the boreal forest have begun to appear in Manitoba and Saskatchewan – Bonaparte’s Gull, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee, Swainson’s Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow


In Manitoba I ran into some problems with the playback experiments. The local birds were not responding to any of the song types including some Western songs from Alberta. I recorded local birds this morning and yesterday in Manitoba. I am going to use them in a new round of playback experiments. These birds readily react to songs of other birds from Saskatchewan as I found out earlier today. I think I am on to something but I need the experiments and the data to confirm some ideas.


I made some more great videos in the Park for my Ornithology class collection.

Canada Jay adult



Barn Swallow



Purple Martin




Gas is more expensive here in Canada ranging from $0.99 – $1.03/liter. These numbers convert to $3.75 - $3.90/gallon.


More great birding as usual and my sighting are found the June 2009 website.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Manitoba 2009 Part 1

I just got into Dauphin, Manitoba yesterday afternoon. I needed a hotel stay to setup and test the playback experiment equipment.


During this part of the trip in Canada, I will be doing playback experiments to determine whether males from western Canada are able to detect differences between their western song types versus Eastern, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland dialects.

I am headed for Duck Mountain Provincial Park to begin this first phase of the playback experiment study.

In the meantime, I was able to watch an exciting ending to the Stanley Cup finals last night as the Penguins edged the defending champs - Detroit Redwings. Billy Guerin played a critical role in Pittsburgh's run up to the cup and through the playoffs. He is the nephew of our former Academic Dean at Saint Anselm College, Father Peter Guerin, OSB. Congratulations to the Guerin family.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

North Dakota 2009

Driving to the study site provided some great birding opportunities. I have videos of more western species like the American Avocet below. Some other less common eastern species but found regularly and breeding in the mid-west include Black Tern, Ruddy Duck and Redhead. These are species that rely heavily on the prairie slough or prairie pothole community for breeding and migration. This habitat is subject to many pressures, some natural like varying dry and wet seasons, and other due to human disturbances like development for agriculture.


American Avocet




Black Tern feeding




Redhead





Ruddy Duck male displaying





Red-necked Grebe in Breeding Plumage




I spent 2 days in the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota (Wakopa Wildlife Management area), recording Mourning Warblers. I only made 7 good recordings because the birds are not common there. Now it's time for Manitoba and beginning of the playback experiments to determine whether Mourning Warblers can discriminate among the major songs types found on the breeding range.



My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Minnesota 2009

After finishing up in Wisconsin on 9 June, I headed for Hackensack, MN. You know you are doing a lot of travelling when you cross the Mississippi River IN YOUR CAR!

I was supposed to meet Ben Wieland who was going to show me some hot-spots for Mourning Warblers at the Deep Portage Learning Center. However, I was running late and driving through some great breeding habitat in Remer, MN so I camped in the Chippewa National Forest that night. I attached a photo of some prime breeding habitat. I recorded MN males 3, 4 and 5 in the vicinity of this photo.

I had a very successful day on 10 June, recording 23 Mourning Warblers. I knew I was in the right spots because of the ticks and mosquitoes that I had to deal with. The larger numbers of mosquitoes in Minnesota coincided with much wetter forests, and more numerous lakes, ponds and bogs. The songs are noticeably different in Minnesota. I had to do one quick playback of a song to confirm one of the males was indeed a Mourning Warbler – and it was. This shift may parallel a similar change that I found in western Ontario (almost due north) in 2005. I am incredibly anxious to analyze the sonograms when I get back home to NH.

Gas prices were much lower ranging from $2.59 - $2.64/gal. After talking to my wife, Kris last night, I heard they are still higher than back home in New Hampshire.

The environment changes as you travel through western Minnesota. It becomes much more like the prairies of the Midwest and that means the birds change also. Here are links to two videos of typical western birds – Western Kingbird (compare with Eastern Kingbird from Michigan from this trip) and Yellow-headed Blackbird.





Click here for an update on the daylists of birds that I am also maintaining on the trip.

I am currently in a hotel in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, literally recharging the batteries of the digital equipment. I am headed to the Turtle Mountains after a morning run and shower.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Wisconsin 2009

The temperatures have been below average with lows in the 40s at night to daytime highs in the high 50s to low 60s. Rain put a damper on my field work on 8 June so I spent the rest of the day in the Sayner public library catching up on computer work – digitizing songs, photos and videos.

The environment has changed a little bit from Michigan. There are more bogs (see photo) and less pine forest as one of the climax ecosystems in this area.

I have attached video of White-tailed Deer that were abundant in this area – a hunter’s dream come true. I probably saw 15-20 deer a day and many roadkills from driving accidents.



Gas prices in northern Wisconsin were the highest so far at $2.89 – $2.99/gallon.

I finally finished recordings on 9 June with a total of 18 Mourning Warbler males for this state. It was lower than anticipated but still an adequate sample.

Click here for an update on the daylists of birds that I am also maintaining on the trip.

I’d like to thank Amber Roth, Ph.D. candidate at Michigan Tech University, and her two colleagues, Kevin and Ethan, for helping me locate the warblers.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Michigan 2009 Part 2

It's a dreary day in Manistique and I am in a hotel recharging batteries for my digital camera, digital video camera and computer.

I am also uploading yesterday's digital recordings and photos.

Here is a photos of the Mackinac Bridge crossing between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan from yesterday when it was sunny and 60 degrees F.

I also took some videos of North American birds yesterday.

Trumpeter Swan with young

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Bluebird

Mourning Warbler - subject species of this season's research

Windows users will need the Quicktime plugin

I am headed to Wisconsin later this morning after a run along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

Click here for an update on the daylists of birds that I am also maintaining on the trip.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Michigan 2009 Part 1

June 3-4 were travel days to start this field season. I first drove from Newbury, NH to visit my in-laws, John and Donna Henry, in Phillipsburg, PA.

John was very disappointed that an alleged Eastern Racoon had been feasting on goldfish and snails he had bought for his new backyard waterfowl fountain. He has painstakingly been building it for the past few months and added the fish and snails as a finishing touch. As I was preparing to leave, John was busy working on a remedy for the raccoon. I drove on 4 June to my first study site in Alcona County in northeastern Michigan.

Driving through Ohio and southern Michigan provided reminders of the current financial crisis and the troubled auto industry. I passed by a GM plant and a Chrysler plant that had been temporarily or permanently closed down. The vast parking lots were empty, much like a professional sports stadium several hours after the conclusion of a sporting event.

I did manage a quick photo of Lake Huron - see above. One aspect of my study is to analyze the effect of the Great Lakes as a potential barrier between the major song patterns within the species' range of the Mourning Warbler.

This morning, 5 June, I found and recorded my first Mourning Warblers northeast of Glennie, MI.

I am keeping daylists of bird sightings. The daylists (click here) will be posted at my website.

My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.

Starting to Blog

I have just started the blog here in New Hampshire. I am currently preparing for this field season, assembling equipment (e.g., digital recorder, ipods, batteries, battery chargers, audio recorders, bug repellent, clothes, etc.).


I am also analyzing data from the previous field seasons: Maine to Alberta in 2005, West Virginia to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 2006, New Hampshire in 2007 and 2008. I will be presenting the results of this research at the upcoming 127th American Ornithologists' Union meeting at the University of Pennsylvania in August, 2009.


I am blogging primarily to show my students how a field biologist conducts field work. These experiences include the field work and its schedule, the documentation of field work, the birds and their environment and anything else you might run into while doing field work.


My field work has been generously supported by a Summer Research Grant from Saint Anselm College.