Director of Raptor Program
Chris, here with a newly banded juvenile Bald Eagle.
Chris DeSorbo, M.S.
Director of Raptor Program, Senior Research Biologist
chris.desorbo@briwildlife.org
207-839-7600 x115
Chris joined BRI in 1998, and oversaw a Common Loon behavioral ecology and toxicology study in Maine’s Rangeley Lakes region. As BRI expanded its mercury research to include other species, the raptor program was born. Through the program, Chris initiated what has now become the most extensive Bald Eagle sampling and banding effort in Maine’s history. Recent BRI raptor program projects have emphasized various studies of migrating raptors, and using individual tracking technologies to inform conservation and management decision-making relevant to Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, and other raptor species.
Chris’s current projects at BRI include evaluating mercury and lead exposure in adult resident Bald Eagles and Common Loons, assessing mercury exposure and risk to North American migrant raptors, and evaluating the use of offshore wind energy areas along the Atlantic coast by migrating Peregrine Falcons and Merlins.
In addition to raptor work, Chris also oversees BRI’s projects related to wildlife and solar energy development.
Education & Certifications
- M.S., Environmental Studies/Conservation Biology, Antioch University, 2007
- DeSorbo, C. R. 2007. Spatial, temporal, and habitat-based patterns of mercury exposure in interior bald eagles in Maine. M.S. Thesis. Antioch University, Keene, NH. 95 pp.
- B.S., Biology, University of New Hampshire, 1996
Research Interests
- Raptor toxicology, with a special emphasis on Hg
- Migration Ecology
- Raptor movement studies and applications to management and conservation decision-making
- Identification and conservation of raptor aggregation areas
- Evaluating relationships between raptors and anadromous fisheries
- Addressing conservation and management needs of Upland Sandpipers in Maine
Journal Articles
Adams, E. M., J. E. Gulka, Y. Yang, M. E. H. Burton, D. A. Burns, V. Buxton, L. Cleckner, C. R. DeSorbo, C. T. Driscoll, D. C. Evers, N. Fisher, O. Lane, H. Mao, K. Riva-Murray, G. Millard, N. R. Razavi, W. Richter, A. K. Sauer, & N. Schoch. 2023. Distribution and trends of mercury in aquatic and terrestrial biota of New York, USA: A synthesis of 50 years of research and monitoring. Ecotoxicology 32: 959-976.
Mallon, J. M., M. A. Tucker, A. Beard, R. O. Bierregaard, K. L. Bildstein, K. Böhning‐Gaese, J. N. Brzorad, E. R. Buechley, J. Bustamante, C. Carrapato, J. A. Castillo‐Guerrero, E. Clingham, M. Desholm, C. R. DeSorbo, R. Domenech, H. Douglas, O. Duriez, P. Enggist, N. Farwig, W. Fiedler, A. Gagliardo, C. García‐Ripollés, J. A. Gil Gallús, M. E. Gilmour, R. Harel, A. ‐L. Harrison, L. Henry, T. E. Katzner, R. Kays, E. Kleyheeg, R. Limiñana, P. López‐López, G. Lucia, A. Maccarone, E. Mallia, U. Mellone, E. K. Mojica, R. Nathan, S. H. Newman, S. Oppel, Y. Orchan, D. J. Prosser, H. Riley, S. Rösner, D. G. Schabo, H. Schulz, S. Shaffer, A. Shreading, J. P. Silva, J. Sim, H. Skov, O. Spiegel, M. J. Stuber, J. Y. Takekawa, V. Urios, J. Vidal‐Mateo, K. Warner, B. D. Watts, N. Weber, S. Weber, M. Wikelski, R. Žydelis, T. Mueller, & W. F. Fagan. 2020. Diurnal timing of nonmigratory movement by birds: the importance of foraging spatial scales. Journal of Avian Biology 51.
DeSorbo, C. R., N. M. Burgess, P. E. Nye, J. J. Loukmas, H. A. Brant, M. E. H. Burton, C. P. Persico, & D. C. Evers. 2020. Bald Eagle mercury exposure varies with region and site elevation in New York, USA. Ecotoxicology 29: 1862-1876. Available at http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10646-019-02153-8.
Davidson, S. C., G. Bohrer, E. Gurarie, S. LaPoint, P. J. Mahoney, N. T. Boelman, J. U. H. Eitel, L. R. Prugh, L. A. Vierling, J. Jennewein, E. Grier, O. Couriot, A. P. Kelly, A. J. H. Meddens, R. Y. Oliver, R. Kays, M. Wikelski, T. Aarvak, J. T. Ackerman, J. A. Alves, E. Bayne, B. Bedrosian, J. L. Belant, A. M. Berdahl, A. M. Berlin, D. Berteaux, J. Bêty, D. Boiko, T. L. Booms, B. L. Borg, S. Boutin, W. S. Boyd, K. Brides, S. Brown, V. N. Bulyuk, K. K. Burnham, D. Cabot, M. Casazza, K. Christie, E. H. Craig, S. E. Davis, T. Davison, D. Demma, C. R. DeSorbo, A. Dixon, R. Domenech, G. Eichhorn, K. Elliott, J. R. Evenson, K. -M. Exo, S. H. Ferguson, W. Fiedler, A. Fisk, J. Fort, A. Franke, M. R. Fuller, S. Garthe, G. Gauthier, G. Gilchrist, P. Glazov, C. E. Gray, D. Grémillet, L. Griffin, M. T. Hallworth, A. -L. Harrison, H. L. Hennin, J. M. Hipfner, J. Hodson, J. A. Johnson, K. Joly, K. Jones, T. E. Katzner, J. W. Kidd, E. C. Knight, M. N. Kochert, A. Kölzsch, H. Kruckenberg, B. J. Lagassé, S. Lai, J. -F. Lamarre, R. B. Lanctot, N. C. Larter, A. D. M. Latham, C. J. Latty, J. P. Lawler, D. -J. Léandri-Breton, H. Lee, S. B. Lewis, O. P. Love, J. Madsen, M. Maftei, M. L. Mallory, B. Mangipane, M. Y. Markovets, P. P. Marra, R. McGuire, C. L. McIntyre, E. A. McKinnon, T. A. Miller, S. Moonen, T. Mu, G. J. D. M. Müskens, J. Ng, K. L. Nicholson, I. J. Øien, C. Overton, P. A. Owen, A. Patterson, A. Petersen, I. Pokrovsky, L. L. Powell, R. Prieto, P. Quillfeldt, J. Rausch, K. Russell, S. T. Saalfeld, H. Schekkerman, J. A. Schmutz, P. Schwemmer, D. R. Seip, A. Shreading, M. A. Silva, B. W. Smith, F. Smith, J. P. Smith, K. R. S. Snell, A. Sokolov, V. Sokolov, D. V. Solovyeva, M. S. Sorum, G. Tertitski, J. F. Therrien, K. Thorup, T. L. Tibbitts, I. Tulp, B. D. Uher-Koch, R. S. A. van Bemmelen, S. Van Wilgenburg, A. L. Von Duyke, J. L. Watson, B. D. Watts, J. A. Williams, M. T. Wilson, J. R. Wright, M. A. Yates, D. J. Yurkowski, R. Žydelis, & M. Hebblewhite. 2020. Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic. Science 370: 712-715. Available at https://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abb7080.
Keyel, E. R., M. A. Etterson, G. J. Niemi, D. C. Evers, C. R. DeSorbo, J. C. Hoffman, J. W. Nichols, Y. Li, & F. Nicoletti. 2020. Feather mercury increases with feeding at higher trophic levels in two species of migrant raptors, Merlin (Falco columbarius) and Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus). The Condor 122: 1-17. Available at https://academic.oup.com/condor/article/doi/10.1093/condor/duz069/5741362.
Tucker, M. A., O. Alexandrou, R. O. Bierregaard, K. L. Bildstein, K. Böhning‐Gaese, C. Bracis, J. N. Brzorad, E. R. Buechley, D. Cabot, J. M. Calabrese, C. Carrapato, A. Chiaradia, L. C. Davenport, S. C. Davidson, M. Desholm, C. R. DeSorbo, R. Domenech, P. Enggist, W. F. Fagan, N. Farwig, W. Fiedler, C. H. Fleming, A. Franke, J. M. Fryxell, C. García‐Ripollés, D. Grémillet, L. R. Griffin, R. Harel, A. Kane, R. Kays, E. Kleyheeg, A. E. Lacy, S. LaPoint, R. Limiñana, P. López‐López, A. D. Maccarone, U. Mellone, E. K. Mojica, R. Nathan, S. H. Newman, M. J. Noonan, S. Oppel, M. Prostor, E. C. Rees, Y. Ropert‐Coudert, S. Rösner, N. Sapir, D. Schabo, M. Schmidt, H. Schulz, M. Shariati, A. Shreading, J. Paulo Silva, H. Skov, O. Spiegel, J. Y. Takekawa, C. S. Teitelbaum, M. L. van Toor, V. Urios, J. Vidal‐Mateo, Q. Wang, B. D. Watts, M. Wikelski, K. Wolter, R. Žydelis, & T. Mueller. 2019. Large birds travel farther in homogeneous environments Boucher-Lalonde, V. (ed). Global Ecology and Biogeography 28: 576-587. Available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geb.12875.
DeSorbo, C. R., N. M. Burgess, C. S. Todd, D. C. Evers, R. A. Bodaly, B. H. Massey, S. E. Mierzykowski, C. P. Persico, R. B. Gray, W. E. Hanson, D. E. Meattey, & K. J. Regan. 2018. Mercury concentrations in Bald Eagles across an impacted watershed in Maine, USA. Science of the Total Environment 627: 1515-1527. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.023.
Gray, C. E., J. D. Paruk, C. R. DeSorbo, L. J. Savoy, D. E. Yates, M. D. Chickering, R. B. Gray, K. M. Taylor, D. Long, N. Schoch, W. Hanson, J. Cooley, & D. C. Evers. 2014. Body mass in Common Loons (Gavia immer) strongly associated with migration distance. Waterbirds 37: 64-75. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1675/063.037.sp109.
Evers, D. C., J. A. Schmutz, N. Basu, C. R. DeSorbo, J. Fair, C. E. Gray, J. D. Paruk, M. Perkins, K. Regan, B. D. Uher-Koch, & K. G. Wright. 2014. Historic and contemporary mercury exposure and potential risk to Yellow-Billed Loons (Gavia adamsii) breeding in Alaska and Canada. Waterbirds 37: 147-159. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1675/063.037.sp117.
Schmutz, J. a, K. G. Wright, C. R. DeSorbo, J. Fair, D. C. Evers, B. D. Uher-Koch, & D. M. Mulcahy. 2014. Size and retention of breeding territories of Yellow-billed Loons (Gavia adamsii) in Alaska and Canada. Waterbirds 37: 53-63. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1675/063.037.sp108.
Research Reports
Savoy, L., C. R. DeSorbo, & D. C. Evers. 2002. Mooselookmeguntic Lake Common Loon Population Survey and Management Report: 2001 Season. Falmouth, Maine.
