Island treasures: Lessons learned from 30 years of avian research, education, and conservation
Organizers: Lisa Sorenson, Anilleno Davis, and Adrianne Tossas
Tuesday, 11 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Wednesday, 12 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will share results and success stories from case studies and recent avian research, monitoring and conservation projects in the Caribbean, including lessons learned and highlighting the value of a regional approach, partnerships, and networking across a highly diverse region.
Scaling up patterns of avian phenological change
Organizers: Morgan Tingley and Casey Youngflesh
Tuesday, 11 August (2:00-3:30 pm ET)
This symposium seeks to quantify changing patterns in the timing of migration and reproduction, focusing on efforts to scale-up ecological research to better understand the taxonomic, spatial, and temporal components of phenological change in birds and how this maps onto changes in the physical environment and at other trophic levels.
Urban bird conservation and global change: Celebrating 50 years of bird research in, of, and for cities
Organizers: Susannah Lerman, Amanda Rodewald, Christopher Lepczyk
Tuesday, 11 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Wednesday, 12 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Celebrating 50 years of urban bird research and conservation in cities and suburbs.
What’s on the menu? Multiple approaches to studying avian diet
Organizers: Allison Snider and Sabrina Taylor
Tuesday, 11 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium focuses on exploring the use of different techniques to understand avian diet, with three main goals: 1) to gather basic ecological data on species, 2) understand and address the effects of global and anthropogenic changes on birds, and 3) inform conservation efforts.
Predicting bird distributions under global change
Organizer: Maggie MacPherson
Wednesday, 12 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
To understand the tools being used to infer how global change affects bird distributions, this symposium showcases the diversity of logistical, theoretical and temporal perspectives being used to improve our understanding of avian ranges responding to global change. Thursday
Understanding citizen scientists in service of managing and conserving birds: Attitudes, motivations, behavior, and identity
Organizer: Tina Phillips
Wednesday, 12 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
We present a series of ornithological case studies using citizen science to better understand how birder attitudes, motivations, and behaviors can inform conservation and management of birds at varying scales.
Contemporary insights into evolutionary processes using large-scale comparative analyses of avian behavior
Organizers: Gavin Leighton and Russell Ligon
Wednesday, 12 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Thursday, 13 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Broad comparative insight into the evolution of bird behavior.
Studies of avian radiations in the 21st century
Organizers: Martin Stervander, Scott Taylor, David Toews, and Leonardo Campagna
Wednesday, 12 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Thursday, 13 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Our symposium will highlight advances in studies of avian radiations, with perspectives on behavior, ecology, and genomics, highlighting how recent research and new techniques are improving our understanding of avian speciation, and how these findings speak to avian evolution in an age of rapid environmental change.
Global concerns and strategies for parrot populations
Organizers: Christine Dahlin and Timothy Wright
Thursday, 13 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
Parrots are among the most threatened of avian taxa, and this symposium will highlight conservation issues of particular relevance to the taxa with topics including communication, genetics, population surveys and more.
Leveraging museum collections to track avian population responses to anthropogenic change
Organizers: Phred Benham and Shane Dubay
Thursday, 13 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will explore the diversity of ways that natural history collections are being used to understand avian responses to anthropogenic change; and how these specimen resources can most effectively contribute to addressing conservation issues.
The process and products of sexual selection: ecology, behavior, genomics, and physiology of manakins
Organizers: Alice Boyle and Elsie Shogren
Thursday, 13 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Friday, 14 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
Diverse perspectives that integrate multiple subdisciplines of ornithology to collectively answer core questions about sexual selection in a charismatic family of Neotropical birds.
100-year anniversary of bird banding lab: A century supporting and advancing management and conservation science
Organizer: Antonio Celis-Murillo
Thursday, 13 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will provide an overview of the Bird Banding Laboratory’s key role of supporting and advancing management and conservation science for the first 100 years and how it plans to continue its program over the next century, as technology advances and new research and management needs develop.
Birds and hurricanes: effects, responses, resilience, and conservation
Organizers: Joe Wunderle and Tomas Carlo-Joglar
Thursday, 13 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Friday, 14 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium focuses on hurricane effects on birds and their forest resources as well as avian responses to these effects and conservation implications.
Back to the future of the breeding bird survey
Organizers: Veronica Aponte and Keith Pardieck
Friday, 14 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
With the new BBS Strategic Plan fresh off the press and guiding the evolution of this long-term, continental monitoring program, this symposium will showcase active areas of research designed to expand the utility of the BBS for avian conservation and management.
The global rise of naturalized parrots: status, lessons learned, and emerging issues
Organizers: Donald Brightsmith, Stephen Pruett-Jones
Friday, 14 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will bring together leaders in the study of naturalized parrots to share perspectives on the global status, ecology, genetics, impacts, and management of this widely distributed group.
The relevance of bird conservation in broader land use, conservation, and sustainable development efforts
Organizers: Greg Butcher and Amy Upgren, with Introduction by Dr. Thomas Lovejoy
Friday, 14 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
This symposium will provide strategies for advancing bird conservation integration into broader land use, conservation, and sustainable development efforts in the Americas.
Movement energetics and behavioral strategies to overcome constraints on flight performance
Organizers: Ivan Maggini and Emily Choy
Friday, 14 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
We will present the most recent advances in the studies of movement energetics in different life-history and environmental contexts.
Advancing the integration of behavior into songbird conservation and management
Organizers: Darren Proppe and Amanda Beckman
Saturday, 15 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
This session will explore our understanding of songbird behavior, ranging from individual decision-making to population-level patterns, with a strong focus on applying these concepts to management and conservation in our rapidly changing environment.
Birds connect our world: Using tracking technology to inform conservation action
Organizers: Miguel Matta, Susan Bonfield, and Barbara Pazos
Saturday, 15 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
The 2020 World Migratory Bird Day conservation theme, Birds Connect Our World, explores global- and fine-scale migratory routes, following this year’s selected bird species in their journeys, examining the ways we track their migrations and threats they face along the way, and highlighting communities that are working to protect them.
Dynamics of tropical bird communities and populations in the West Indies and beyond
Organizers: Judith Toms and Jeff Brawn
Saturday, 15 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
In honor of John Faaborg’s research in Puerto Rico that spans nearly 50 years, this symposium brings together a diverse group of investigators to discuss their long-term research on the ecology of bird populations and communities in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Neotropics, with questions ranging from the impacts of climate and land use to interactions among species and species’ distributions on archipelagos.
Making the most of disparate data to map opportunities for migratory bird conservation
Organizers: Jill Deppe, Nathaniel Seavy, and William DeLuca
Saturday, 15 August (10:00−11:30 am ET, 2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will bring together a diverse set of speakers to share how disparate data on migratory birds are being synthesized and applied to conservation challenges in the Western Hemisphere.
Key Biodiversity Areas: Conserving the most critical sites for birds and all nature
Organizers: David Diaz, Amy Upgren, and Italia Yepez
Saturday, 15 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This symposium will focus on advances in the identification and conservation of Key Biodiversity Areas as a path towards safeguarding important sites for birds and other species in North America and the Caribbean.
Lightning Symposia
Protecting and restoring bird habitat in the agricultural matrix: net benefits for birds and farmers
Organizers: Sacha Heath and Mathew Johnson
Friday, 14 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
Ten presenters in 60 minutes will share their findings on the effects of uncultivated vegetation in and around farms on birds and the resulting avian-mediated services and disservices to farmers.
Lightning talks for Golden Auks
Organizer: Nathaniel Wheelwright
Saturday, 15 August (10:00−11:30 am ET)
This session consists of 5-minute lightning talks by ornithologists above a certain age, describing the best paper they ever wrote.
Early Professional Mini-Talks
Organizer: Early Professional Committee
Saturday, 15 August (2:00−3:30 pm ET)
This session consists of 5-minute lightning talks by early professional ornithologists.
North American Ornithological Conference 