OSU Graduate Research Associate Timothy Maron is a project investigator on a project that integrates aerial survey data and citizen science data to protect birds and bird habitat. (Submitted photo)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – While birders are outside, eye-to-glass on binoculars and cameras, looking for American Redstarts and Magnolia Warblers this migration season, they can easily assist scientists who are working to protect birds. By utilizing the eBird app, they are joining thousands of birders who have stepped into the realm of citizen science because the data they download is accessible to researchers who are committed to bird conservation.

The Ohio State University (OSU), Winous Point Marsh Conservancy (WPMC) in Port Clinton, and The Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODW) are collaborating on a project that integrates eBird data and an aerial survey to improve the waterfowl population in the state. The project is supported financially by WPMC.

Project investigators are Graduate Research Associate Timothy Maron and Dr. Robert Gates of the OSU Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Lab in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Brendan Shirkey, a research biologist with WPMC.

According to information provided by WPMC, the first objective of the project is to estimate the spring Canada Goose population from 2010 to the present using eBird and ODW aerial survey data and utilize that data to evaluate the potential to integrate the two types of data to improve Ohio’s statewide aerial waterfowl monitoring programs. The project also seeks to create a framework for integrating professional surveys with citizen science data.

Birders and nonbirders alike are probably thinking, ‘Canada Goose? But there are so many!’ But Canada Goose research is simply the foundation for studies of the fragile populations of Mallards, Sandhill Cranes, and Trumpeter Swans.

Mallards were chosen because the Great Lakes area Mallard population is in decline. Sandhill Cranes were formerly nonexistent in Ohio, and now breeding pairs are becoming more common in the Lake Erie marshes, so scientists want to help the population grow. Trumpeter Swans were extirpated from Ohio in the 1800s and reintroduced in the 1990s. They are a species of interest because the population has grown from nothing.

Further objectives of the project are to estimate the spring population of those three species in 2025 and 2026 using the Canada Goose framework and also identify priority stopover and wintering areas for American Black Ducks. The data will give scientists the knowledge to better manage bird habitat to ensure species sustainability and growth.

“We started with the Canada Goose first because we have the most historical data for that species in Ohio. Breeding aerial bird surveys have been done, and so we have very structured, formal surveys for a substantial amount of time,” Maron said. “We’ll use the modeling framework for the Canada Geese and apply it to Mallards, Sandhill Cranes, and Trumpeter Swans.”

The project team is utilizing that data to create models for research of the other species.

“We’ve made good progress with the Canada Goose. We’ve made early models,” Maron said. “They need refined, but I’m really happy with what we have. When they are refined, we will apply them to the Mallards, Sandhill Cranes, and Trumpeter Swans.”

Eventually, the models will also be applied to Black Duck research, which is funded by a Black Duck Joint Venture grant. The research can help improve the dwindling Black Duck population.

“We’ll have a better grasp of how the aerial integration process works and will apply it to Black Ducks,” Maron said. “They are a species unique to the east coast, and the population has not been doing great.”

Birders who use eBird can take pride in knowing they are helping projects like this one that seek to protect birds and bird habitat.

“What’s unique about this project is we are integrating community science information. We’re using all that community data out there, especially from eBird,” Maron said.

The secondary information collected from eBird is just as important. Scientists learn not only what bird was seen where, but they can also know what the weather was like during the sighting, how long the birder was in the field, if the birder was traveling or stationary, and how many people were birding with them.

“Without that metadata, it’s much harder,” Maron said. “It’s extremely important that people are using eBird. It’s very user-friendly. You don’t have to do anything special.”

The bottom line is, those who love birds most can help protect them, simply by downloading an app.

“Community science gives scientists access to a large amount of data that they would otherwise not have,” Maron said. “They have access to birders doing what they love.”