Citizen-Science Updates

President Bush congratulates James on his work for cavity-nesting birds.

White House Photography

Young Citizen Scientist Earns Presidential Award

Fourteen-year-old James Quadrino, The Birdhouse Network's youngest ambassador, has quite a bit to show for his commitment to cavity-nesting birds. During his three years as ambassador, James has educated people about cavity-nesting species and advocated nest-box installation as well as preservation of habitat.

Recently, James was honored with a President's Environmental Youth Award for his work in promoting awareness of cavity-nesting birds. He traveled from his home on Staten Island, New York, to Washington, D.C., to accept his first-place regional award from President Bush. The next day he presented a talk and a poster in the Environmental Protection Agency building, about his project, "Saving Staten Island's Cavity-Nesters." The New York State Assembly sponsored James with a week at a Department of Conservation camp this summer.

Although James has always been interested in birds, a fire on Staten Island a couple of years ago prompted his concern for the welfare of birds on the island, especially cavity-nesting species. He searched online for information, discovered the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and decided to join a few citizen-science projects, including The Birdhouse Network.

James built and put up eight nest boxes in Mount Loretto Park for American Kestrels, Wood Ducks, Barn Owls, and Eastern Bluebirds. He plans on expanding his efforts to include Great Crested Flycatchers, Eastern Screech-Owls, Purple Martins, and even platform-nesting Ospreys. He notes that Mount Loretto's bluffs, coastal scrub, grassland, small forest, and two ponds provide wonderful habitat for birds during the nesting season and migration.

We congratulate James on his award and are very happy that he is working with The Birdhouse Network to promote interest in and study of cavity-nesting species.

--Megan Whitman, project assistant,
The Birdhouse Network

Birds in Forested Landscapes

Hundreds of volunteers participated in Birds in Forested Landscapes (BFL) this season and have already submitted data for 265 study sites in 30 states and provinces. If you haven't returned your data for this year or previous years yet, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible.

BFL is still primarily a study of the habitat requirements of forest birds with an emphasis on the effects of forest fragmentation. Recently, however, we have begun looking at the effects of other human-caused stressors on forest birds, including acid rain. Scientists are also beginning to investigate the effects of mercury deposition on terrestrial ecosystems (see "Mercury Rising" in the August/September 2005 issue of National Wildlife magazine www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/pastIssues.cfm?issueID=76 and "Mercury Connections" from the BioDiversity Research Institute in Maine www.briloon.org/mercury/index.htm). Because negative effects of mercury pollution may be magnified by forest fragmentation, we are hoping that BFL can be an integral part of this new area of research.

This summer, BFL researchers collected data at 40 study sites throughout New York as part of a project funded by the New York State Museum's Biodiversity Research Institute to look at the effects of acid and mercury deposition on some common forest-breeding birds.

We plan to use large-scale studies like BFL, in combination with smaller-scale efforts like our New York project, to better understand how human-caused stressors affect forest birds. We hope you are as excited by the prospects as we are. New volunteers for the 2006 field season are always welcome. For details, see the BFL web site www.birds.cornell.edu/bfl. Many thanks for your continued hard work and support.

--Jim Lowe, project leader

Spotlight on Citizen Science

A recent issue of the prestigious journal Science (June 3, 2005) brought attention to scientific contributions made possible by participants in the Lab's citizen-science projects.

The article stated, "Over the past decade, Cornell has harnessed the enthusiasm of such volunteers--or citizen scientists, as they are known--to explore questions such as the dynamics of infectious disease in bird populations and the impact of acid rain on their reproductive success. Those efforts have resulted in a long list of peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating the value of citizen science as a research tool."

The article mentioned ways that citizen-science participants helped advance research, including conservation work related to forest fragmentation and pollution, and documentation of the spread of a new malady, House Finch eye disease.

Project FeederWatch

Traditionally, the autumn issue of BirdScope has published the FeederWatch annual report, but this year the FeederWatch staff at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada have teamed up to bring you a new publication, Focus on Citizen Science, included in your mailing along with BirdScope. Volume 1 is a review of FeederWatch happenings during the 2004-05 season, providing detailed reports, updates, and photos from participants. We hope that you enjoy this new publication, and we look forward to hearing your comments and story ideas for next year's issue.

--David Bonter, project leader

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu