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of stress. Typically many birds end up back in the very
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Thanks, Jeff. I do understand that you cannot describe your project in
detail until it is completed and published. And your description of
the work you will be doing sounds interesting. I am very curious to
know how sampling a wing feather can help you determine where the
bird's breeding ground is, but perhaps that is one of the things you
cannot yet communicate. A continued concern about Dr. Love's work, as
described on his website, is about the research he is doing at the
moment on the effects of "Maternal Stress" on offspring of wild birds.
I would certainly like to know what this involves. <br>
<br>
Lois Codling<br>
<br>
Jeff MacLeod wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:cf4042181001191907h7c7aa291tf05495f03b6a071@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Hi Lois. I can tell you some about the work I'm hoping to
do. <br>
<br>
First, I should say that I do have a permit allowing me to trap and
band wild birds (and experience doing this), and that their welfare is
of utmost importance throughout the banding process. During the banding
process, the birds would be lured into ground traps using seed.
Typically they would be in the traps for 15-30 minutes, feeding on the
seed inside (unless there is some stressor present creating a need to
remove the birds sooner). All birds are removed from the traps at once,
and put into cloth bags so that they don't struggle and get further
stressed. Birds are removed from the bags one at a time, several
non-invasive measurements are taken (wing length, body condition,
weight), age and sex is determined, and a small aluminum band with a
unique number is put on their leg. The banding/measurement process
takes less than one minute, and the birds are released as soon as it is
over. This handling is stressful for the birds, of course, but this
type of trapping is very safe for the birds and they are able to handle
this degree of stress. Typically many birds end up back in the very
same traps, some multiple times, and often in the same day, suggesting
that they are willing to put up with the associated stress in order to
get the food in the traps. <br>
<br>
Regarding the project, I'm not sure how detailed a description Dr. Love
would be comfortable with me posting on the internet, given that this
is his research that has not been described in any scientific forums
yet. Broadly speaking, however, I can say that my banding efforts would
be part of a long-term monitoring project to track the reproductive and
wintering success of numerous populations of snow buntings. Metal
banding of individuals is essential to i) avoid re-sampling of
previously-caught individuals within each winter, and ii) to monitor
changes in the condition of wintering individuals across the season and
across populations. There has been some suggestion in the scientific
literature that Snow Bunting numbers are declining quite significantly,
and we would like to verify whether this is, indeed, the case. Part of
this process, in the case of this project, also involves the removal of
one wing feather from a number of birds (these feathers grow back). The
feather will allow us to determine where the birds' breeding grounds
are, and make a link between breeding a wintering grounds. The research
ethics board at University of Windsor has review the project and
approved it. <br>
<br>
I hope that I have addressed some of your concerns about the stress we
will be putting these birds through. I am certainly sympathetic, and
the welfare of the birds is quite important to me--both the individual
birds that I am handling and the species as a whole. I am not doing
this work as part of my schooling, and don't benefit financially in any
way. I think that this work is important in protecting this species in
the long term, as we need to understand their behavioral ecology and
changes in numbers in order to determine how to protect them. <br>
<br>
Sincerely, <br>
Jeff MacLeod<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 10:22 PM, Lois
Codling <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca">loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Hi Jeff,<br>
<br>
Could you tell us something about the research you hope to do with Snow
Buntings? If we were to help you find and trap these birds, what kind
of stress (mentioned in the website you gave) do you intend to subject
them to? Do you have a license to trap wild birds? I think most of us
on this list-serve are concerned with the welfare of wild birds. Can
you convince us that you are too?<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Lois Codling</font>
<div>
<div class="h5"><br>
<br>
Jeff MacLeod wrote:
<blockquote type="cite">Hello birders. I'm living in Halifax and
hoping to band
some Snow Buntings this winter. This banding effort would be part of a
larger research project headed by Dr. Oliver Love at University of
Windsor (<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://web2.uwindsor.ca/biology/olove/Home.html" target="_blank">http://web2.uwindsor.ca/biology/olove/Home.html</a>).
Currently I'm trying to track down a few flocks that I may be able to
bait with seed and trap using ground traps. I've spent a day on the
Tantramar Marsh looking for buntings, but found very few. I do have
someone up there continuing to try to find/attract SNBUs, though. I was
in Grand Pre this past weekend, and only found a small flock there
(about 40 birds). If anyone knows of an area within several hours
drive of Halifax that reliably has snow buntings, I would be very
interested to hear about it. Also, I would be especially interested if
someone knows of a reliable spot for SNBUs in their area and would be
willing to help out by regularly baiting a spot (I would provide seed).
The main hurdle in trapping them is attracting them to a spot where I
can set traps.<br>
<br>
If there is anyone in the Grand Pre area that would like to help out
with this, I think there is some potential to attract a decent sized
flock there. I found some birds within a short time this week, so there
are probably more around. Unfortunately, I can't bait a spot regularly
there because I live too far away. Certainly other areas within the
province co