Meeting: Aerial Insectivore Conservation and Monitoring in the Upper Midwest

Participants: Katie Koch, Bill Mueller, Pam Hunt, Michael North, Kelly Applegate,

Date: 2 September 2014

Action Items
Responsible person: / Task:
Dick Wolinski / Send around meeting notes from the August workshop; Katie will post to working group page.
All / Develop a list of entomologists to engage in shared investigations

1)Re-cap the face-to-face meeting held in August

  1. It was a great meeting, and Pam and Dick did a great job leading!
  2. Pam and Dick gave talks about aerial insectivore declines in the Northeast, Midwest, and among swallow species.
  3. Everyone was able to report out on projects in the Midwest.
  4. Mike presented on PUMA work and another student presented on insect hatch and aerial insectivore migration and diversity.
  5. Brainstorming Session
  6. Lots going on with PUMA, expected to continue. Midwest PUMA working group being discussed.
  7. Several people (6-7) volunteered to contact entomologists to learn more about monitoring insect population trends. Engage them in an advisory capacity to see if this is a causal factor in AI decline.
  8. Compile resources for issues (e.g., pesticides) and write a white paper/issue paper – might be able to partner with Northeast.
  9. Where should we store/serve up these resources?
  10. Outreach
  11. Best Management Practices – for bridges, gravel projects, etc.
  12. Increase awareness of the decline of these birds
  13. The meeting was very swift and swallow focused.
  14. Lots going on with PUMA, expected to continue. Midwest PUMA working group being discussed.
  15. Several people (6-7) volunteered to contact entomologists to learn more about monitoring insect population trends. Engage them in an advisory capacity to see if this is a causal factor in AI decline.
  16. Compile resources for issues (e.g., pesticides) and write a white paper/issue paper – might be able to partner with Northeast.
  17. Where should we store/serve up these resources?
  18. Outreach
  19. Best Management Practices – for bridges, gravel projects, etc.
  20. Increase awareness of the decline of these birds

2)Discuss next steps/priorities this group wants to work on in the next 1-2 years

  1. Michael asked that we keep flycatchers on our radar.
  2. Should we consider Loggerhead Shrike as an aerial insectivore?
  3. Katie asked how this working group could be most value-added.
  4. Bill – we really need to connect with entomologists, especially those who specialize in aerial insects.
  5. Pam seconds this suggestion.
  6. Kelly – When the PUMA return in the spring, they are not sure what they feed on when aerial insects are lacking. They have proposed fecal analysis from PUMA colonies. Are the insects they are eating potentially impacted by neonictinoids?
  7. This could be a great graduate project!
  8. PUMA eat a lot of dragonflies when they are 8-14 days old. They also eat a lot of mayflies.
  9. Kelly also reported on differences in health of nestlings at colonies in “good” and “bad” sites.
  10. Mike – clearinghouse for information (getting ideas from others and contributing information that may be of interest)
  11. Katie asked about methods for communication. Bill suggested that holding a conference call every other month works well to help us keep in touch and working on projects of mutual interest.

3)Updates

  1. Kelly was at the MN State Fair and they volunteered at the MOU booth. An ornithologist came up to him and mentioned PUMA roosting on an array of antennas along the Yucatan Peninsula (used to track WOTH). They reach more people at that event than all other events combined.
  2. MN also had a Chimney Swift Sit and has recruited more people to participate in Sits throughout the state (concentrated around the Twin Cities). This is the fifth year of the Chimney Swift Sit program (over 50 towers have been built). Kelly has five towers in his backyard, and they have been used for breeding. He also had a fall group roost in the tower in 2013. Tower use in MN has increased, especially after they played vocalizations.
  3. Kelly deployed 23 geolocator tags as several sites. They are programmed to ping when the birds approach the Yucatan. Recapture is necessary to download the data.
  4. Wisconsin is conducting CHSW watches in August and September. Wisconsin DNR and Kim Grveles put out a press release to 10,000s of people to help collect data on roosting swifts. Many people enter their data on eBird for this effort. Participation seems down from 2013.
  5. Bill presented a poster with people from Bird City-Green Bay. They monitor over 100 chimneys!
  6. Pam is giving a talk at the NE/SE PIF Conference next month and may have an organic meeting with people there.
  7. Pam is also involved in an OSFL atlas. Of the blocks that had OSFL in the early 80s, only 1/3 had OSFL this time around. This is consistent with larger scale trends.
  8. WI will start its second BBA in 2015, and they expect similar OSFL trends in WI.
  9. Vermont is gearing up for a Bank Swallow colony inventory. This species is the most at risk according to Wayne Thogmartin’s analysis.
  10. We should think about developing a one-page fact sheet on this species to raise awareness…

4)Action Items

  1. Get the notes from Dick Wolinski!
  2. Follow up with/remind people who offered to identify entomologists to engage in our working group by our next call.
  3. We should ask Kevin Frazier for suggestions on this step. Kelly will email his contact information out to the group. Pam will also look for him at the AOU meeting in Estes Park, CO.
  4. Midwest PUMA Working Group – any movement or support from our working group needed?
  5. Next Call – Tuesday, November 4, 2014

1