Recent News About Cuckoos & Our Members
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We are excited to announce that we held a symposium and a roundtable discussion at the American Ornithological Society meeting in Estes Park, Colorado.
(Photo Credit: Charles Drost, SBSC, USGS)
New Breeding Habitat Discovered for Yellow-billed Cuckoos!
Beauregard et al. (2024) “Combining our data with previous survey data, we estimated a minimum of 100 occupied sites in southeastern Arizona xeroriparian habitat, representing a substantial increase in the known breeding population in Arizona. Occupied sites were concentrated in southern and western “Sky Island” mountain and foothill drainages, from 600–1800 m, with xeroriparian vegetation in a matrix of Madrean-evergreen woodland, semi-desert grassland, or desert scrub. Breeding by cuckoos in southeastern Arizona xeroriparian habitat is important for cuckoo conservation, but this habitat also faces potential threats from grazing, climate change, and development.“
Comeback Cuckoo: Baba Ghanoush Returns to Audubon Kern River Preserve in California
Experimenting with tracking birds at finer spatial scales to better understand their migration routes and habitat use
READ AN ARTICLE BY OUR OWN JENNA STANEK!
Road to Recovery (R2R) Emerges as Leader in Developing Recovery Strategies for North America's Avifauna
PEEC NATURE NOTES, VOLUME 30, NUMBER 2, SPRING 2024, Pgs 2-4
Looking for New Steering Committee Members
Spotlight Webinars
This Spring (April-May), we began hosting Webinars spotlighting cuckoo-related work done by members. Each Spotlight Webinar consists of 1 or more presentations followed by a 30-min moderated Q&A and Discussion. To see past and upcoming Webinars, please visit our EVENTS page.
Please let us know if you would like to give a Spotlight Webinar.
Please welcome Edwin Juarez to our Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo Working Group Steering Committee.
Edwin developed a passion for wildlife and nature as a kid growing up in a rural community in El Salvador, which has inspired a strong interest in connecting Latino communities to nature. Currently, he coordinates the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative (formerly AZ Partners in Flight), for the AZ Game and Fish Department. As the Coordinator, Edwin develops, implements, coordinates, and supports conservation projects for priority bird species in Arizona. He also works with partners in Northwest Mexico and across the US Southwest in collaboration with the Sonoran Joint Venture, Partners in Flight, and other regional and national initiatives focused on conserving birds throughout their annual life cycle.
PLEASE WELCOME OUR VERY FIRST CHAIR: JENNA STANEK!
Jenna has worked as an Ecologist with the Environmental Protection and Compliance Division for the Los Alamos National Laboratory since 2018. Prior to that she worked as a Wildlife Biologist for the Southern Sierra Research Station for 8 years. She earned her M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University, a B.S. in Biology and Ecology from Western State Colorado University, and a B.A. in Environmental Policy and Spanish at Albright College. Although Jenna’s background is in Aquatic Entomology, she became hooked on birds after spending a field season nest searching for Yellow-billed Cuckoos along the lower Colorado River in 2010. She has worked on an assortment of projects for various special status species and will always hold a soft spot for Yellow-billed Cuckoos.
*NEW* PRIORITY RESERACH TOPICS
Check out (and download!) our new infographic hot off the press with the priority research topics identified by the Yellow-billed Cuckoo Working Group during the R2R Yellow-billed Cuckoo Symposium held virtually 16-17 November.
A Yellow-billed Cuckoo wearing a satellite tracking device ©Calandra Stanley / Georgetown University and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Migratory Bird Center.
BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL, 28 JANUARY 2022
By Ian Davidson
Grand plan to protect Gran Chaco: South America’s second biggest forest and home to wintering Yellow-billed Cuckoos from both Eastern and Western US.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Photo Credit: Helen Aikman (2016).
AUDUBON SOUTHWEST (ARIZONA), 29 OCTOBER 2021
By Cathy Wise
Monsoon Madness: How will Western Yellow-billed Cuckoos respond as climate changes? Insights and hope from the 2021 survey season.
Migration routes of Yellow-billed Cuckoos fitted with satellite tags. Data collected by Georgetown ornithologists Dr. Calandra Stanley and Dr. Peter Marra.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERISTY, THE EARTH COMMONS, 17 JUNE 2021
By Rowlie Flores
Mapping the Mysteries of Bird Migration; an article about Georgetown ornithologists Dr. Calandra Stanley and Dr. Peter Marra’s efforts to track migration and wintering movements of Yellow-billed Cuckoos using Argos satellite tags.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo in upland habitat at Sierra La Madera, Municipality of Huásabas, Sonora (photo courtesy of Gilberto Díaz).
SONORAN JOINT VENTURE, 12 SEPTEMBER 2019
By Alberto Macías-Duarte, Universidad Estatal de Sonora
Status of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Sonora, Mexico.
Mary “Murrelet” Halterman
BIRDING MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2019
By Noah Strycker
An Interview with Murrelet Halterman
Yellow-billed Cuckoos feed on relatively large prey items, such as katydids, cicadas, caterpillars, and other large insects. Photo by Phillip R. Brown.
American Bird Conservancy, BIRDCALLS, 12 June 2017
By Cristina Santiestevan
Piecing Together The BirdScapes Puzzle For Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, an article about ABC and partners asking and answering the questions that will guide the placement of a cuckoo BirdScape and dictate its ultimate conservation plan.