Avian Research and Data Analysis

Pacific Rim Conservation biologists have undertaken numerous research projects over the past 20 years involving a wide range of avian species, including forest birds, seabirds, and wetland birds. Research has focused on a variety of topics, such as ecology, demography, behavior, population genetics, at-sea tracking, and natural history. Specific research projects can be designed to suit client needs and address any ornithological issue.

Current Research Projects

• Investigation of threats to the Oahu Elepaio, including nest predation by alien rats and diseases carried by alien mosquitoes, and evaluation of the efficacy of rodent control programs from 1995-2008.
  PDF Report 63.
  
  
  
• Examination of genetic population structure, species status, and biogeography of Elepaio. Report 52, Report 65

• Analysis of mark-recapture data from a population of Laysan Albatross at Kaena Point, Oahu, to examine adult survival, juvenile survival, and recruitment, in order to enhance knowledge about this species’ demography and improve monitoring methods.
  

• Determining the genetic population structure of Laysan Albatross using microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers to understand whether populations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are distinct, and the source of immigrants at new colonies in the main Hawaiian Islands, Japan, and Mexico.
  
  Satellite and data logging telemetry to track at-sea habitat use and foraging locations of Laysan Albatross, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, and Red-footed and Brown Boobies on Oahu and Lehua Islet, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of California Santa Cruz, Hawaii Pacific University, and Oregon State University.

• Effects of habitat disturbance and mosquito-borne diseases on demography of the Hawaii Elepaio
  Report 14, Report 32, Report 60
  
  
• Measuring plumage color and body size in the Hawaii Elepaio to investigate the environmental causes of morphological variation among bird populations and function of intra-specific plumage variation
  Report 17, Report 28