THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK SPEAKERS PROGRAM
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
The American Museum of Natural History, Linder Theater
Speaker: Richard O. Bierregaard, Jr., Distinguished Visiting Research
Professor, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at
Charlotte
Subject: Osprey Migration: Navigation, Orientation, and Mortality in
Juvenile and Adult Ospreys
This talk will review what we have learned from satellite tracking
east coast Ospreys, concentrating on data from 29 juveniles that have
been tagged since 2004.
The migratory behavior of adult Ospreys is fairly well
understood. They navigate between nesting territories and wintering
grounds often 3-4,000 miles apart. They are as faithful to their
wintering grounds as they are to their nest sites.
Among the many mysteries of migration, perhaps the most
difficult to understand, is how first-year birds find their way to
their wintering grounds. They do not navigate, as they have no
instinct that directs them to a particular destination. Instead, they
simply instinctively head south. How do they know when to stop and
where to settle?
It is well known that roughly 80% of all first year
Ospreys do not complete their first migration cycle. We do not know
where the mortality occurs. The uncertainty over when mortality occurs
and the high cost of satellite transmitters explain the paucity of
data on juvenile migration. Finally, nearly all east coast Ospreys,
roughly 40,000 adults and juveniles, migrate through Cuba and
Hispaniola each fall. The conservation implications of this bottleneck
will be discussed.
Richard O. Bierregaard received his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University
of Pennsylvania. He has authored or coauthored numerous publications
on birds of prey, birds of the New World Tropics, habitat
fragmentation and conservation.
The meeting is open to the public, without charge. Please
join us for what promises to be a very exciting talk. Enter the Museum
at West 77th Street. If you would like to meet Dr. Bierregaard prior
to the talk, join us a Pappardella's Restaurant, 75th Street and
Columbus Avenue at 6 p.m. The reservation will be in the name of Alice.
Alice Deutsch, Vice President
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