Research
Prothonotary Warblers
Prothonotary Warblers (PROW) are a cavity-nesting Neotropical migratory warbler that readily nests in manmade boxes. Charlie and Leann Blem (retired VCU faculty) initiated a PROW box monitoring program in 1990 with the primary goals of increasing breeding populations of this species and engaging VCU students in research. Both of these objectives were met, and continue today. Since 2010, I have worked closely with Dr. Cathy Viverette to continue collecting the long-term data - banding all breeding females and nestlings and monitoring breeding attempts. WE decided to drop one of the field sites so that we could collect higher quality data for each nest/breeding attempt and since then we visit each box (N=80) twice per week throughout the breeding season (mid-April - mid-July). Over 30 years of data collection, we have collectively banded >18,000 birds and monitored >5000 breeding attempts. This type of long-term data is essential for asking questions about how weather and climate are associated with variation in fitness and behavior.
Golden-winged Warblers
Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera, GWWA) populations in the Appalachian region have been in steady decline since at least the 1960s, resulting in a loss of >90% of breeding birds. Primary causes of decline include habitat loss and degradation on both breeding and nonbreeding portions of the species’ range, range and elevational shifts associated with climate change, and competition and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers (Vermivora cyanoptera, BWWA). Despite these declines, climate models predict that high elevation sites in Virginia will serve as refugia for GWWAs making it imperative that we understand how to create and maintain high quality habitat in this region. Private working lands make up the majority of breeding GWWA sites in much of the southern and central Appalachian region so the needs of private landowners must also be considered and incorporated into any effective GWWA conservation strategies.
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My current research interests for this species are with better understanding habitat quality as measured by occupancy, food availability (especially as it relates to the invasive vegetation), and full season productivity.
Photo by Baxter Beamer