Why Study Songbirds?

Migratory songbird species have shown some of the largest declines across the animal kingdom. Complexities of their annual cycle—particularly those related to migration and the use of multiple habitats across continents—make it difficult to determine where a population could be experiencing problems such as habitat loss or shortage of food supplies. Basic information about migratory processes and patterns, combined with songbird natural history, is critical to our understanding of how environmental changes impact these species.

Many anthropogenic stressors affect songbirds. At BRI, we are working to understand how contaminants, wind power development, climate change, and habitat change impact songbird ecology and demography. BRI is working in various places across New England, the United States, and south into Central and South America to better understand the ecology, movements, and contaminant effects of a variety of songbird species, with an emphasis on neotropical migrants.

Program Directors:

Contributing Staff:

Highlighted Songbirds We Study

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Carolina Wren

Rusty Blackbird

Mountain Bluebird

Northern Waterthrush

Songbird Research at BRI

River Point Wildlife Monitoring

In 2011, BRI began monitoring efforts at the River Point Conservation Area in Falmouth, Maine, with an emphasis on tracking bird populations.

Contaminants Monitoring

Ever since BRI biologists discovered the threats mercury can pose to songbird populations, we have stressed the need to better understand the exposure of mercury in songbirds.

Movement Studies

Changing transmitter technology has resulted in new abilities to track smaller birds, like songbirds. BRI is conducting movement studies using geolocator devices in Maine & Massachusetts.

Publications

To inform policy efforts and advance public understanding, a group of 61 scientists collaborated on producing 15 papers that describe the impacts of mercury on songbirds across the United States and Canada (Cristol and Evers 2020). This publication, The Impact of Mercury on North American Songbirds, highlights the major findings of those studies and collaborative effort.

The 15 scientific papers representing laboratory and field studies are now published in a special issue of the journal Ecotoxicology (October 2020). The papers reflect five general categories of research on mercury in songbirds: (1) effects on health and physiology; (2) temporal trends; (3) landscape variations; (4) bioindicators; and (5) migration.