Avian research has included four projects. (1) A population viabilty analysis of the San Pablo song sparrow concluded that this subspecies was in no immediate danger of extinction and helped focus San Francisco Bay conservation priorities to species and habitats of greater concern. (2) Point-count and transect surveys for breeding bird diversity in California, Nevada, and Arizona as well as documentation and monitoring of nests of vermillion flycatchers along the Bill Williams River, AZ, where they had previously been thought to have been extirpated. (3) Estimating and correcting for sex- and species- biases in observer data on migrating Coopers and sharp-shinned hawks; (4) population structure of red-tailed hawks in western North America relative to plumage color variants

Collaborators
(1) John Takekawa (USGS), Glenn Wylie (USGS), Mike Johnson (UC Davis), Isa Woo (USGS), (2) Jennifer Neale (American River College), Michael Morrison (UC Berkeley, U of AZ), Sue Ellen Lynn (UCB), Amy Kuenzi (UCB), Robin Hamlin (USFS), Linnea Hall (U of AZ), (3) Josh Hull (UC Davis), Buzz Hull (Golden Gate Raptor Observatory), Allen Fish (GGRO), John Keane (USFS), (4) Josh Hull (UC Davis), Holly Ernest (UC Davis)

Funding
(1) USGS, Biological Survey, and Species-At-Risk Program; (2) USFWS, (3) Point Reyes Bird Observatory

Publications

Takekawa, J. Y., B. N. Sacks, I. Woo, M. L. Johnson, and G. D. Wylie. 2006.Tidal marsh fragmentation and persistence of San Pablo song sparrows (Melospiza melodia samuelis): assessing benefits of wetland restoration in San Francisco Bay. Studies in Avian Biology, In press.

Lynn, S., M. L. Morrison, A. J. Kuenzi, J. C. C. Neale, B. N. Sacks, R. Hamlin, and L. S. Hall. 1998. Bird use of riparian vegetation along the Truckee River, California and Nevada. Great Basin Naturalist 58:328-343.