Last year for the Ohio Ornithological Society and this year for The Biggest Week in American Birding I’m giving a keynote talk entited “Elusive Migration: The Migration Ecology of Rails”

Its aimed at a non-academic audience, and as a result doesn’t include a lot of the fine details that I could easily spend an hour talking about, instead if highlights the take home messages from the work I’ve done on rails, and some neat natural history. I’ve had a few people ask me for more details on the research I present in this talk, and so I’m going to use this post as a place to point those people towards.

Fall migration survey method:

Fournier, A.M.V., Krementz, D.G. 2017 Nocturnal Distance sampling All-Terrain Vehicle Surveys for Non-Breeding Rails The Wildlife Society Bulletin 41:151-156 doi:10.1002/wsb.745 pdf link

Migratory Connectivity with stable isotopes and species distribution models:

Fournier, A.M.V, Sullivan, A., Bump, J., Perkins, M., Shieldcastle, M.C., King, S. 2017 Combining citizen science species distribution models and stable isotopes reveals migratory connectivity in the secretive Virginia rail Journal of Applied Ecology 54:618-627 doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12723 pdf link

Fournier, A.M.V., Drake K.L., Tozer D.C. Accepted Species distribution models improve isotope-based migratory connectivity estimates of wetland-dependent birds Journal of Avian Biology (not yet available online)

Autumn migration timing:

Fournier, A.M.V., Mengel, D.C., Gbur, E.E., Krementz, D.G. In Press The Timing of Autumn Sora (Porzana carolina) Migration in Missouri Wilson Journal of Ornithology (should be out summer 2017)

Autumn migration habitat use:

In Review Fournier, A.M.V., Mengel, D.C., Krementz, D.G. Virginia and Yellow Rail autumn migration ecology: synthesis using multiple data sets

Rails in Ohio:

Fournier, A.M.V., Shieldcastle, M.C., Kashmer, T., Mylecraine, K.A. 2015 Comparison of Arrival Dates of Spring Rail Migration in the Southwest Lake Erie Marshes, Ohio, USA. Waterbirds 38: 312-314 doi:10.1675/063.038.0313 pdf link

Sora diving behavior:

Fournier, A.M.V., Krementz, D.G. In Press Accepted Confirmation of diving and swimming behavior in the Sora (Porzana carolina) Wilson Journal of Ornithology (should be out later in 2017)

Baseline Mercury Levels:

Fournier, A.M.V., Welsh, K.J., Polito, M., Emslie, S. Brasso, R. 2016 Levels of Mercury in Feathers of Clapper Rails (Rallus crepitans) over 45 Years in Coastal Salt Marshes of New Hanover County, North Carolina Bulletin of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology 97: 469-473 doi 10.1007/s00128-016-1870-z pdf link

Other people’s research I mentioned:

Haramis and Kearns 2007 - https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/5211417