Paper Session

Time: Saturday, September 20, 2025, 1:00 pm - 3:15 pm (snack/coffee break at 2:30 pm)
Place: IDCC, 2nd floor Banquet Room

Presenters: 

Kennedy Sullivan 
Recovering Great Lakes Piping Plovers on Eastern Lake Ontario

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, Department of Environmental Stewardship and Planning

The Great Lakes Piping Plover, a state and federally endangered shorebird, was extirpated from our state until its reappearance in 2015. Hear the conservation story about how researchers, biologists, and stewards are coming together to restore this species along eastern Lake Ontario.

Yuting Deng
BirdFlow: Multi-species Movement Modeling Reveals Continental-scale Migration Patterns

Yuting Deng*, Ethan Plunkett, Miguel Fuentes, Yangkang Chen, Benjamin M. Van Doren, Daniel Sheldon, Adriaan M. Dokter, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Migratory birds undertake seasonal journeys across continents, connecting ecosystems and shaping ecological processes. Studying the movement of migratory birds across species full range and annual cycle is therefore fundamental to understanding their ecology, and for targeting conservation actions to the locations and periods where they are most impactful. The BirdFlow project offers a probabilistic framework for modeling species movement using  eBird Status and Trends weekly relative abundance data. With models tuned for each species, inferences can be made to forecast their movement, given location and time, generate routes, and query movement probabilities between locations. In this study, we applied the BirdFlow models to quantify migration movement patterns of 389 migrant species in North America. We calculated migration aerial passage across the US using BirdFlow-derived Migration Traffic Rates. We then compared it with weekly migration traffic detected by 150 weather surveillance radars, which showed strong agreement, with highest correlations at radar stations along the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways. Seasonal and spatial patterns in BirdFlow-derived Migration Traffic aligned well with radar observations. This method enables disaggregation of radar traffic by species, revealing dominant migrating species at specific locations and offering a scalable tool for species-level migration monitoring for areas without radar network.

Shya Reynolds 
Conservation of the Whooping Crane: Cultural Significance and Ecological Importance

Shya Reynolds*, mentee under Dr. Dena Clink, Cornell University, Vice president of the Kiowa youth council, enrolled member of the Caddo Nation

The whooping crane, a majestic and endangered species, holds profound cultural significance for various Native American tribes, including the Hopi, Zuni, Ojibway, Atakapa, and Yuchi. These tribes have traditional practices intricately linked to the whooping crane's lifecycle and migration patterns, underscoring the importance of preserving this species for cultural heritage. Beyond its cultural value, the whooping crane plays a vital role in maintaining the health and biodiversity of wetlands and grasslands, ecosystems crucial for numerous other species. Despite conservation efforts, whooping cranes continue to face threats such as habitat loss, collisions with manmade structures, and illegal poaching. With approximately 800 individuals remaining, urgent action is necessary to prevent extinction. This presentation highlights the importance of collaborative conservation initiatives, such as those undertaken by the International Crane Foundation and the Whooping Crane Conservation Association, and emphasizes the need for continued support and advocacy for wetland preservation to protect this symbolic species.

Fengyi Guo

Stopover Ecology and Conservation of Migratory Landbirds in the Eastern United States

Fengyi Guo*, Jeffrey Buler, Jacklyn Smolinsky, David Wilcove, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University

 
Migratory landbirds are experiencing dramatic population declines in North America, but little is known about the important habitats they use as stopover sites during migration. We used data from weather surveillance radar to map seasonal stopover distribution of migrating landbirds across the eastern U.S. during spring and fall. We identified stopover hotspots covering 2.47 million hectares that consistently support high densities of migrants across years. However, only 16.7% of these sites are hotspots in both seasons. Deciduous forest is the most important habitat type, with high concentrations of birds in forest fragments embedded in broadly deforested regions, especially in spring. While protected areas have higher stopover densities of birds, only 1/3 of hotspots are covered, and many of these protected areas are still subject to extractive uses. In summary, a well-distributed network of well-protected stopover areas, complementing conservation efforts on the breeding and wintering grounds, is essential to sustaining healthy populations of migratory landbirds in North America.

Simran Mohile

Associations between Climate Change and Migration Patterns of Warblers in the Eastern United States

Simran Mohile*, Corina Sanchez

Brighton High School, Rochester NY, and Rochester Birding Association Youth Member (SM),  and University of Nevada, Reno (Doctoral Student, CS)

Changes in climate over time may alter the migration patterns of songbirds. Weather variables such as precipitation and temperature affect the life cycles of plants and insects, which songbirds depend on for shelter and food. This study used observation data from eBird and weather data from PRISM to answer the research question: is the migration timing of warblers related to climate change in the Eastern United States? We obtained data on four warbler species from eBird, collecting 15 years of data from 2008 to 2023. The PRISM dataset contains detailed information on climate variables such as temperature and precipitation throughout the United States. We chose nine locations that have varying vulnerabilities to climate change. We used program R to develop linear regression models and evaluate the relationships between changes in maximum temperature, total monthly precipitation, annual precipitation and the warbler’s day of arrival, day of departure, and species time in each location. We found that warblers in counties with higher vulnerability to climate change have a shorter stopover time. We also found that temperature and precipitation were associated with time in each location. These results can help guide future conservation efforts to protect warblers’ habitats in the eastern United States.

Christina Hoh 

Muskrats and Mudflats: A Crash Course in Wetland Management for Bird Conservation

NYSDEC Region 8 Wildlife Biologist

Dozens of bird species depend on freshwater wetlands for food and shelter while breeding, migrating, and wintering across New York State. These wetlands are dynamic ecosystems, changing from year to year and with the seasons depending on many factors. How do wetland managers use the marsh cycle to meet the needs of different species in these complex systems? How do things like droughts, floods, and invasive species change the local habitat? Why are muskrats a black tern’s best friends? This presentation will provide an introduction to freshwater wetland management in New York, with a focus on the Montezuma Wetlands Complex in the Finger Lakes region.

Grete Pasch 

Bird Nests, Field Notes, and AI: A Century of Observation Rediscovered

Grete Pasch* (CALS MPS Program, Cornell University) and Vanya Rohwer (Curator, Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates)

Historical bird egg collections preserve not just eggs, but the field observations of early ornithologists. This pilot project transcribed over 1,000 oology cards from 1850 to 1950 using a multimodal AI model. These handwritten cards, often loosely formatted, describe nest appearances, egg locations, bird behavior, and habitat. One card details a Florida Gallinule nest perched “above water in a pond infested with alligators,” illustrating the lengths collectors went to.  Another describes a nest “in an old can wedged in a tree fork,” showing bird adaptability. A third credits “my daughter Mary” for finding a Red-eyed Towhee nest, highlighting family contributions to fieldwork. Handwritten nest descriptions are often challenging to transcribe and are typically excluded from digital records. These cards, however, may hold the only surviving field notes, offering a rare archival restoration opportunity. This talk will demonstrate how AI, through carefully crafted prompts, generated accurate transcriptions with minimal hallucinations and extracted data via semantic interpretation. Notable field observations will be shared, and the implications for digitizing museum records will be explored.

Arabella Pajoohi

An Examination of the Effects of Temperature Changes on Nest Boxes Relied Upon by Secondary Cavity Nesting Birds

New York State Young Birders Club

Although tree cavities offer essential habitat for nesting birds, habitat fragmentation and loss has diminished the prevalence of suitable nesting sites for secondary cavity nesting birds forcing these birds to increasingly rely upon nest boxes. Ongoing climate change poses an even greater threat to birds who rely upon nest boxes as heat waves become more pronounced and frequent. To better understand the thermal profiles of nest boxes and the impact that an increase in temperature during the summer months is having on the value of these boxes for breeding birds, on a daily basis I examined the variations in temperature among six boxes, three insulated and three uninsulated. Data collected demonstrated that improved design parameters are needed to enhance avian habitat suitability as climate change worsens and yields greater temperature variability outside of healthy nesting temperature limits. In the face of climate change nest boxes that once served as suitable substitutes for secondary cavity nesting birds are now susceptible to extreme temperature variations and may therefore pose dangers for nesting birds. My study further highlights the importance of modifying current nest box designs, which have less than optimal value when internal temperatures exceed optimal temperatures for incubation by several degrees.

Note: We received many more excellent abstract submissions for this Paper Session. Thank you to all who applied; we hope you will be able to present at a future NYSOA meeting.