Stutchbury is one of 91亚色's 28 Canada Research Chairs. The program celebrates its November 24 and 25 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre through a two-day conference featuring the research of Canada's best and brightest minds.

Professor , Canada Research Chair in the , is participating in the plenary discussion, "Thinking Ahead: What Will Canada Look Like in 2050?", on November 24.

Professor Janine Marchessault, Canada Research Chair in , is participating in the Art, Technology and Society panel November 25.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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The clip is on Metro Morning's website and runs under 5:30 minutes.

Stutchbury is the and a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 . She is the author of , which describes her journeys through forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book, published by April 16, also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Two pairs of purple martins, known for the purple-black feathers of mature males, are cohabiting in a colony house on the south edge of Grenadier Pond.

The birds are rare in southern Ontario, where populations have decreased by 46 per cent in the last 20 years. They feed on flying insects, and even one period of cold wet weather, when insects don鈥檛 fly, can lead to adult starvation in large numbers, says Bridget Stutchbury, Distinguished Research Professor in Biology in 91亚色's Faculty of Science & Engineering, who studies North American songbirds and did her thesis on purple martins.

Stutchbury says it鈥檚 rare for the species to move into a new colony house because they usually return to one where they鈥檝e previously nested and prefer to live with other pairs. The social nature of the bird could mean that more pairs will move into High Park. 鈥淭he idea that they鈥檇 be able to repopulate, I think it鈥檚 exciting,鈥� she says.

Although the creatures are admired for many reasons, there is one misconception about the species, says Stutchbury. The belief that martins have a voracious appetite for mosquitoes is a myth. 鈥淭hey might snatch the odd mosquito, but they鈥檇 much rather eat a nice juicy dragonfly,鈥� she says. They also favour moths and butterflies. 鈥淪ome people might think that they鈥檙e good insect control, but they鈥檙e mostly eating the kind of insects we might admire.鈥�

Stutchbury, a and a professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 , is the author of . It describes her journeys through forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book, published by April 16, also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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A at 91亚色, Stutchbury says the Canadian bird population has been declining by one to two per cent a year since the mid-1960s. She cited pesticide use and deforestation as a couple of the problems, and singled out the practice of forest clearing for coffee plantations as one of the primary concerns 鈥� another reason to support shade-grown coffee.

But far-off coffee plantations aren't the only problem. The same day the story on Stutchbury ran, NB Power advertised its 2010 herbicide application program on its transmission line rights-of-ways.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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鈥淏oth at the provincial level, and even at the national level, you have dozens of species of songbirds that are in serious decline,鈥� says Bridget Stutchbury, author of Silence of the Songbirds and : Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds.

Stutchbury, in 91亚色鈥檚 , was scheduled to be in Fredericton on Thursday to deliver a public lecture on the severity and the impact of the province鈥檚 songbird decline.

Stutchbury said the causes for the decline are plentiful. Pesticide use and deforestation are two. Coffee is one of the biggest culprits in the case of migratory birds, she said, because forests are cleared to make way for the coffee plantations, pushing the birds out of their refuges. 鈥淭he sun-grown coffee is grown the way we would grow corn, completely out in the open in these massive fields. Row after row after row of coffee plants and not a tree in sight,鈥� Stutchbury said.

Switching from sun-grown coffee to shade-grown coffee that鈥檚 grown in the forest would be a step in the right direction, she said. Reducing pesticide use and encouraging sustainable logging practices are other ways to stop the decline.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The video is and runs for 2:20.

Stutchbury also took part in a phone-in show about local birds on CBC Radio鈥檚 鈥淢aritime Noon鈥� May 12 where she answered callers' questions about their backyard visitors.聽 The segment begins at the 4:20 mark and runs to the end of the program. The .

Her efforts to use the book to promote conservation of bird habitats was also covered on

A rapid decline in the number of songbirds across North America should serve as a wake-up call about what is being done to the environment, a Canadian biologist warned Friday.

Bridget Stutchbury, Canada Research Chair in Ecology & Conservation Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, said a growing number of bird species will be at risk unless immediate action is taken to protect large natural areas that serve as breeding grounds.

鈥淭he facts can be shocking, and so shocking they are almost hard to believe,鈥� Stutchbury said in Fredericton. 鈥淲hen you talk about biodiversity loss, very realistic forecasts are that in the next 100 years we are going to lose 10 to 15 per cent of the world鈥檚 birds in terms of species.

Stutchbury said the decline is the result of a loss of habitat due to clear-cutting and urban sprawl, not climate change. She said Canada鈥檚 boreal forest serves as a bird nursery for the continent and must be protected to, in turn, protect birds.

鈥淯nless something radical is done in terms of setting aside protected areas for wildlife and plants, it鈥檚 all going to unravel because there are dozens of species on a straight-line trajectory to zero,鈥� she said.

It was also covered in :

Bridget Stutchbury was at Fredericton鈥檚 Conserver House on Friday to speak about the decline of the songbird population in Canada and what can be done to save them.

The 91亚色 scientist and author of Silence of the Songbirds, which was nominated for a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award for Non-Fiction, recently authored a new book called The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds.

Stutchbury stressed the impact the drastic decline in the songbird population will have on biodiversity in the province.

Conservation Council of New Brunswick executive director David Coon and Stutchbury agreed there are simple things individuals can do to protect the environment and the birds鈥� habitat.

Stutchbury suggested buying local and organic products, recycled paper and shade-grown coffee. She said the issue is hitting close to home, as there are several New Brunswick songbirds on the list of declining species. 鈥淭he bird decline is so widespread, it affects all Canadians, no matter where you live,鈥� Stutchbury said. 鈥淏ut in the area of the Acadian Forest (in New Brunswick), we are seeing more.鈥�

Stutchbury鈥檚 comments were also reported on radio stations in Chatham, Owen Sound, Ottawa and Belleville, Ont. and Calgary, Alta., and in Bathurst and Fredericton, NB, and Bridgewater, NS.

Last but not least, her book was :

Reading these essays is almost as good as seeing the birds ourselves. The same is true of The Bird Detective, by Bridget Stutchbury.聽An ornithologist at 91亚色, she has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on bird behaviour from her own research and that of other biologists, and lets us in on the secret lives of both birds and ornithologists.

Here is the rare academic who can make research accessible to the public without dumbing it down. But Stutchbury does more than that: she makes it exciting. Her description of birds鈥� sexual adventures, combined with Stutchbury鈥檚 ornithological adventures, propel the book forward, and made me wish I could travel along with her in the field.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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In her latest novel, The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood invents new animals to entertain us and get across her concerns about environmental and social collapse.

. . .

In The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds, Bridget Stutchbury, Distinguished Research Professor of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering and author of the Governor-General鈥檚 Literary Award-nominated Silence of the Songbirds, also uses animals to illustrate the effect humankind is having on nature. And she does it very effectively without Atwood鈥檚 black wit and disturbing scenarios.

The Bird Detective, in fact, is a cheery little book. Stutchbury delights readers with hundreds of amazing facts and stories about birds, mostly songbirds, which serve to make it all the more tragic that climate change, habitat loss, pesticide use, long-line fishing and other environmental sins are mixing up extraordinary behaviours that have evolved over thousands of years.

The complete review is .

The book was also reviewed by May 7:

As the outdoor reading season opens, Bridget Stutchbury鈥檚 new, informal work on bird behaviour, The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Life of Birds, just begs to be read under a backyard tree. The book could serve as beach reading too; marine birds such as the albatross and rhinoceros auklet put in appearances. But Stutchbury, a biologist in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, has done much of her research on songbirds, and tales of their behaviour form the heart of the book.

Stutchbury examines big issues in the family life of any species 鈥� courtship, kids, infidelity and so on 鈥� and describes relevant research projects. Some examples come from her own work with her husband, evolutionary biologist Gene Morton, and some from other scientists.

Behind-the-scenes details set the book apart from typical wildlife guides. In one vignette, Stutchbury recalls conveying nestlings to and from weighing sessions by climbing ladders while clenching paper bags of baby birds in her teeth. The book takes a conversational approach to research, yet Stutchbury packs in a good number of intriguing findings while presenting the science clearly.

The complete .

The Bird Detective was published by April 16.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Bridget Stutchbury's Bird Detective reviewed in the The Globe & Mail appeared first on Research & Innovation.

In , Stutchbury roams forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book was published by April 16.

Stutchbury, a and a professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 , also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Audio: Professor Bridget Stutchbury interviewed on Quirks & Quarks about bird research appeared first on Research & Innovation.

In , Bridget Stutchbury roams forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book, published by , hits shelves April 16.

Stutchbury, a and a professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Using radio-tracking technology, Stutchbury and 91亚色 post-doctoral student Bonnie Wolfenden solved a mystery that had puzzled biologists: how were female Acadian flycatchers getting fertilized by neighbouring males who lived hundreds of metres away?

鈥淲e had the genetic evidence of their infidelity, but we never did catch a female sneaking away from its nest. It turned out to be the males making clandestine visits to the females,鈥� Stutchbury says.

Divorce is a regular part of life for almost all birds; most live with one partner for only a few months or years, depending on the species. Annual divorce rates range from 99 percent in the Greater Flamingo to zero in the Wandering Albatross.

鈥淭here are a number of theories about why birds go their separate ways,鈥� Stutchbury says. 鈥淥ne hypothesis is that birds that are genetically or behaviourally incompatible separate when both can benefit from finding a new partner.鈥� Another theory is that birds, like humans, realize they can do better: one pair member initiates divorce for selfish gain, leaving its former partner high and dry.

Left: Bridget Stutchbury

As in humans, divorce can take its toll on offspring, creating a situation where one partner is left to care for eggs or young. 鈥淚n the worst-case scenario, birds may abandon the breeding attempt and leave the offspring to die in favour of starting over with a new, better partner,鈥� Stutchbury says.

Birds are also known to exhibit favouritism when it comes to their young. They must invest more effort into raising sons, as males are larger and require more food.

鈥淲e see birds providing extra food and care to one gender of offspring over another, depending on environmental circumstances,鈥� says Stutchbury. In ye

ars where food is plentiful, some birds may raise male hatchlings exclusively.

In The Bird Detective, Stutchbury also gives a first-hand account of how she and her team became the first researchers in the world to track migratory songbirds from breeding to wintering grounds. Last winter, she published a paper in the journal showing the tiny birds鈥� astonishing speed in migration, finding that they fly three times faster than previously suspected.

Stutchbury emphasizes that these aspects of behaviour aren鈥檛 mere curiosities: they鈥檙e crucial puzzle pieces that will help researchers protect birds from threats like climate change, habitat destruction, and other environmental concerns.

鈥淭here鈥檚 truly a pressing need for behavioural research 鈥� otherwise there鈥檚 no way for us to know how to best protect species.鈥�

A book launch for The Bird Detective will take place Thursday April 29, at 7:30pm at .

Stutchury is also the author of , which was a finalist for the .

By Melissa Hughes, media relations officer, with photos courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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