Global change threatens life on our planet. Migratory birds are particularly at risk, suffering multiple threats of global change during different stages of their full annual cycle. Moreover, stages of the full annual cycle are inextricably linked, where events during the nonbreeding period can influence events during the breeding period and vice versa. If we hope to elucidate how global change affects migratory birds, we must understand where populations go throughout the year, i.e., their migratory connectivity, or the degree to which populations remain together throughout their annual cycle. Understanding patterns of migratory connectivity are critical for tackling ecological questions about migratory birds, as the degree to which populations remain together throughout their seasonal movements determines their exposure to threats like habitat loss and disease, among others. To bridge this knowledge gap, Henry Stevens, PhD student at Georgetown University, used a full annual cycle perspective in his study of American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla), a migratory songbird in decline. This well-studied warbler occupies a range of habitats and has been a focal study system for understanding the ecology of migratory birds over the past 30+ years. This makes redstarts an ideal study species for uncovering how global change drives changes in migratory bird distributions. Here Henry, (a) discovers undescribed patterns of migratory connectivity for redstarts by collecting tracking data from across their range, and (b) combines them with other forms of data on migratory connectivity to develop the first integrated, range-wide migratory connectivity map.

Bio: Henry graduated from Tufts University in 2019 with a joint BS in Biology and Environmental Science. He grew up in Exeter, NH, where he discovered his passion for ornithology. He LOVES birds and his desire to understand their ecology is what gets him out of bed in the morning. Henry’s research interests lie at the intersection of conservation ornithology and tropical ecology, and his past research has focused on the breeding biology and dispersal of Gray Vireos in New Mexico, the use of remote audio recorders for surveying cryptic species in the Amazon, improving the conservation site network for migratory shorebirds in the Americas, and uncovering the life histories of Andean Cock-of-the-rocks and other understudied species in the cloud forest of Ecuador. At Georgetown, Henry has studied the full annual cycle of Neotropical migratory wood-warblers, and used integrated population models to pinpoint factors driving their declines. With over 3.2 billion individual birds lost in North America since 1970, understanding and addressing the threats faced by these species is paramount for mitigating further declines.

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