Current LRC Projects
1
The Search for Hemispheric Conservation: Tracking the movements of Royal and Sandwich Terns
The mission of Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative is to secure the future of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere. An important aspect of this initiative is having data that provide information on non-breeding locations of migratory species to better understand connectivity across populations. In 2024, LRC and Audubon North Carolina began a project to study nesting Royal and Sandwich Tern movements in the Lower Cape Fear River of North Carolina. Our research goal is to use a combination of mark-recapture and GPS technology to identify critical migration stop-over areas and winter locations. This project is beginning to reveal the hemispheric footprint of these terns and provide support towards Audubon’s hemispheric approach to bird conservation by giving us a better understanding of what locations are important for terns on both sides of their migration journeys.
2
Black Skimmer movements in response to water quality and prey resources in New York
Management of Black Skimmer populations at a regional level across the Atlantic Flyway is both dynamic and difficult due in part to their varied conservation and management statuses at the state level. Understanding how skimmers utilize both their local nesting sites and regional movements will help shed light on population dynamics and connectivity throughout the Atlantic Flyway. With the recent implementation of mark-recapture studies on the Town of Hempstead skimmer populations and the increasing use of research techniques that include GPS telemetry and stable isotope analysis, the knowledge gaps in New York Black Skimmer movement ecology and breeding population dynamics are beginning to close.
3
Florida Black Skimmer recruitment and nesting habitat comparisons
LRC is partnered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to track Black Skimmer movements in southern Florida with GPS telemetry, and mark-recapture techniques.(banding) to track juvenile dispersal, survival, and breeding recruitment, particularly differences between ground nesting and rooftop nesting populations. Information on natal dispersal, survival, and breeding recruitment is vital information for conservation and management of imperiled species. Preliminary results have documented chicks hatched on the Gulf Coast are dispersing to the Atlantic Coast and rooftop hatching chicks from the Atlantic Coast are dispersing to Gulf and inland lake areas. Adults tagged in SE Flroida have been documented wintering south in Cuba and north in Tampa Bay and Apalachicola on the Florida Panhandle.
4
Shorebird responses to oyster reef restoration in San Diego Bay, California
LRC is partnered with Patton Biological Services to monitor and analyze bird responses to the creation of oyster reef habitat in San Diego Bay. The aim for this project is to complete a BACI (before and after controlled experiment) to understand shorebird uses before and after construction of oyster reef. The project has been ongoing since 2021.
5
Where do NY American Oystercatchers forage on Long Island: Marsh vs Barrier Island Beach?
in 2026, a second project with the Town of Hempstead and New York Audubon was implemented to monitor AMOY movements and foraging locations to better understand AMOY foraging requirements in high human density use locations such as Lido and Atlantic Beaches on Long Island
