New Mexico
Ornithological Society
2007 Grant Awards
2007 RYAN BEAULIEU RESEARCH GRANT AWARDS
The NMOS Research Grants Committee is pleased to announce the two recipients
of the 2007 Ryan Beaulieu Research Grants. Each will receive $1000 to support their research
on New Mexico
birds.
1. John P. DeLong,
Eagle Environmental, Inc., Albuquerque,
NM Using
DNA to document prey selection in migrating hawks - We know that
mortality rates of some birds reach their highest levels during migration. The ability to find food and avoid predators
while migrating is crucial to long-term survival. This project addresses the need for more information
about predator-prey relationships between migrating raptors and songbirds in
high-elevation habitats such as the Sandia and Manzano
mountains. Research on migrant hawks and
songbirds has been ongoing in this area since 1985 and 2000 respectively. Since 2003 these researchers have been
collecting prey feathers from the talons of migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks,
Cooper’s Hawks, and Merlins at Capilla Peak
in the Manzano
Mountains. They have also collected “reference” feathers
from potential prey species during the songbird banding operations; “reference”
feather DNA can be used to identify prey feathers. This NMOS grant will fund analysis of the prey
feather samples. These results will help
answer the following questions: (1) What prey speciesdo Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks and Merlins select when migrating through the mountains of
central New Mexico?
(2) Is prey selection proportional to
prey species abundance, or is there greater selection of certain species? (3)
Do different-sized hawks select different prey? and (4)
Do young hawks select different prey than adults?
2. David J. Griffin, Griffin
Biological Services, Las Cruces, NM Continued bird surveys in
the higher elevations of the Big Burro Mountains, Grant County, New Mexico
- David presented a paper at the 2007
Annual Meeting presenting results from his previous surveys during fall
migration in the Big Burro Mountains, and demonstrating the need for additional
baseline information about bird communities using this little-studied area during
winter, spring migration, and summer (breeding season). This project will focus on filling in some of
the blanks in our knowledge. The
proposal suggests that point transect surveys be conducted at previously
surveyed points during some or all of the migration, winter, and summer
breeding seasons, depending on funding. These surveys will answer questions about the composition
of the winter bird community in the Big Burros as well as the habitats they
use, whether some species migrate south or remain in the winter, whether the breeding
bird community shows a Rocky
Mountain or Sierra Madre
affinity, and chronologies of migration and breeding. This NMOS grant will fund travel costs for
this project.
We congratulate these two recipients and thank the other applicants for
their proposals.
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Copyright ©2006 New Mexico Ornithological Society
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Last updated:
Please send comments to: Bruce Neville