Features
Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Marsh Birds
If realized, projected changes in the level of the world’s oceans will have profound consequences on the biological and social systems of the world. The earth’s sea-levels are forecasted to rise 0.5-2 meters before the end of the century. This global sea change will consume dry land, reshape our coastlines, and reconfigure our wetlands. It will also pose new limits on biological production and money economies that are tied to the near-shore environment. Understanding the impact from these dramatic changes is a necessary first step toward taking appropriate action.
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers Record Breeding Season
Red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia had a very successful year in 2009 with six breeding pairs successfully fledging fifteen birds. The nine females and six males hatched and fledged in 2009 represent the greatest production of young since recovery efforts were initiated a decade ago. The 2009 season also marks only the second time since the late 1980s that six breeding pairs have bred successfully.
Tracking Azalea
Azalea is a young eagle hatched from the nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG). She is one of a three-chick brood that has been followed by web-cam viewers from around the world during the 2009 breeding season via the NBG EagleCam. On 20 May, 2009 CCB biologists fitted Azalea with a 70-gram, solar-powered, satellite-GPS hybrid transmitter that is programmed to record the eagle's locations hourly during the day and at midnight. You can follow her travels with researchers at EagleTrak blog and WildlifeTracking.
In The News
Flight of Hope
Hope, a whimbrel carrying a satellite transmitter, embarked on an incredible journey after being captured by CCB researchers on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on May 19th, 2009. She left Virginia on May 26 and flew to the western shore of James Bay in Canada. She staged on James Bay for 3 weeks before flying to the MacKenzie River near Alaska and then on to the Beaufort Sea where she spent more than 2 weeks before flying back to Hudson Bay. Hope then staged on South Hampton Island in upper Hudson Bay for 3 weeks before leaving on a non-stop flight south on 10 August. The bird flew south over Hudson Bay, crossed the interior of Canada and New England to emerge from the coast of Maine and out over the open ocean. Flying more than 1,600 kilometers (1000 miles) out over the ocean and east of Bermuda, Hope then turned south, making landfall on St. Croix, U.S.V.I. on the evening of August 14.
Virginia Eagle Nest Locator Launched
The 2009 breeding season represents the 54th consecutive year that the bald eagle breeding population has been surveyed in Virginia. Since 1977 when the Center for Conservation Biology and the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries took over responsibility for the survey, information pertaining to nest locations has been kept confidential due to concerns about disturbance and vandalism. In recent years as the eagle population has increased dramatically the relationship between the benefits of disclosing nests and the concern over disturbance has shifted.
Happy Reunion with Rehabilitated Eagle
In mid-June 2009, CCB was contacted by the Wildlife Center of Virginia about a bald eagle that had been feeding in a landfill in King & Queen County, Virginia and was found unable to fly. The eagle was captured by the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries and brought into the rehabilitation center. The Wildlife Center of Virginia is one of the premiere wildlife hospitals in the country and has cared for scores of injured eagles over the years. The bird had two fractures of the ulna that were well aligned and had begun to heal on their own. The Wildlife Center kept the bird for rehabilitation and to improve overall body condition, for a few months until its release (10/2/09).
Media coverage
Coverage of CCB's activities, including:
Bald eagle numbers soaring in Roanoke Valley
New Virginia Eagles Site & Locator
Hope the whimbrel sighted in USVI
For these stories and more, go to CCB's media coverage page.
Recent Findings
Migrating Whimbrels connect Virginia with Toronto
For many years, members of the Toronto Ornithological Club and birders in the greater Toronto area have recognized that whimbrels migrate through the area in great numbers during the third and forth weeks of May on their way north to the breeding grounds. The timing of birds leaving from the Eastern Shore of Virginia relative to the passage of birds through Toronto has intrigued CCB biologists who have wondered about possible connections. This spring, researchers verified the connection.
2008 Colonial Waterbird Survey Reveals some Populations Declining, some Expanding
Colonial waterbirds are highly visible components of coastal avifauna species that share the unusual characteristic of nesting in dense assemblages. Due to their close association with aquatic resources, they are often good indicators of wetland and aquatic health. However, one consequence of having large portions of populations nesting in few locations is that even restricted disturbance may have profound consequences on a population level.
Virginia's 2009 Peregrine Falcon Breeding Season
The peregrine falcons in Virginia had another successful breeding season in 2009 producing 50 young falcons. The breeding population of falcons was extirpated in the state by the mid-1960s but 30 years of intensive management efforts by
CCB and our partners have resulted in the current 21 breeding pairs.
Winter Investigations of Sharp-tailed Sparrows
The sharp-tailed sparrow group has a complex taxonomic history. Initially split, the group was merged into a single species for nearly 7 decades before being re-split in the mid-1990s. Over the past 3 winters, CCB biologists, lead by Fletcher Smith have been investigating the winter ecology of sharp-tailed sparrows in coastal Virginia by capturing, banding, and identifying individuals to subspecies. Our objectives have been to determine habitat requirements, site fidelity, winter density, and the relative abundance and distribution of the 5 subspecies.
Conservation Profiles
CCB Graduate Student: Da Chen, Ph.D.
Da Chen, Ph.D. investigated the presence of persistent organic pollutants, used as flame-retardant materials, in birds of prey. He compared the toxin levels in addled eggs from several species around the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia, to similar samples from China.
Previously featured profiles
Get Involved
Find-out how you can interact more with CCB:
> New opportunities to sponsor CCB's satellite-tagged birds through WildlifeTracking.org
> Watch peregrine nesting behavior during breeding season on CCB's live FalconCams.
> Participate in citizen-science monitoring projects, like the US Nightjar Network.
>Learn how to report on one of CCB's marked birds.
> Help CCB by recommending our e-newsletter to a friend or by pledging your financial support.
Browse opportunities to get involved...
