Sarah Dobney

UWindsor students co-author scientific paper after immersive Paris field course <p><em>By Sara Elliott</em></p> <p>“The field course was a pivotal point in my academic journey because if not for my study abroad experience, I genuinely would not be in this lab and I wouldn’t be d...

"UWindsor students co-author scientific paper after immersive Paris field course." Today's campus newsletter has a write-up about our new paper, arising from our field course on Bird Song and Anthropogenic Noise. 🇫🇷🎶🐦 Check it out: www.uwindsor.ca/news/2025-07...

A landscape photo of a boreal forest. Overlay text reads "The challenge: We don’t know how birds are doing in much of the boreal forest because it’s too hard to survey in these remote regions."

A Blackpoll Warbler perches on a branch. Overlay text reads "A new window: Because monitoring programs rarely reach the far north, boreal bird migration in the spring and fall offers a way to track their populations using migration data from bird observatory counts."

A Blackpoll Warbler sings from a tree. Overlay text reads "An innovative method: Using the Blackpoll Warbler as a case study, researchers combined migration counts with feather isotopes. The feather chemistry helped reveal the origins of the birds, while migration counts provided insights into the changes in their populations."

A landscape shot of the Blackpoll Warbler's habitat. Overlay text reads: "The big picture: This approach will help us protect more species by identifying where conservation is most urgently needed."

The latest issue of Avian Conservation and Ecology (ACE) is out now!

Volume 20, Issue 1 features a variety of captivating bird research papers, including a new study co-authored by Danielle Ethier, Senior Scientist at Birds Canada.

Dive into this study and more at avianconservationecology.org

Photograph of a group of University of Windsor students on a Study Abroad field course in Paris, France. We're giving the "thumbs up" next to a Song Meter we used to record birds in urban parks. Superimposed over the photo: the title of our new paper in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology: "Avian biodiversity in the urban green spaces of Paris: higher bird species richness in larger parks and park centers."

Our new paper is out: "Avian biodiversity in the urban green spaces of Paris: higher bird species richness in larger parks and park centers". Co-authored with 14 UWindsor students from a Study Abroad field course. In Avian Conservation & Ecology: ace-eco.org/vol20/iss2/a...
Here's our story...
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Savannah Sparrow song and Ovenbird song is the focus from our team today at #CSEE2025:
At 8:45 "Song of the Studs" by Sarah Dobney in Behav Ecol 1.
At 11:30 "Clamorous and Amorous" by Connor Acorn in Behav Ecol 2.
@csee-scee.bsky.social @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social

What's all the buzz about? Today at 10:30 in the Avian Ecology session of #CSEE2025, our newest team member, Natalie Emerick, will present her research on bat and aerial insectivore acoustics (coauthors Hannah ter Hofstede and Liam O'Leary).
@csee-scee.bsky.social @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social

It's a big day for our team at #CSEE2025:
At 14:00 join @jaclynaubin.bsky.social in room Sherbrooke C for her talk on St. Lawrence Beluga bioacoustics.
At 16:30 join me in room Lac Memphrémagog for my talk on a global horizon scan of bioacoustics.
@csee-scee.bsky.social @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social

Our team has prepared four talks for the upcoming #CSEE2025 meeting in Sherbrooke next week. I'm excited about the new projects we're going to share. See you in Quebec! 🎤🎶🐦🐋🇨🇦
@csee-scee.bsky.social @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social

Female superb fairywren on a log

Earlier this season we said goodbye to GBB. Born in 2014, she was one of the oldest and most productive females in our population:
35 nests, 80 eggs, 47 chicks fledged, 35 reached independence, 24 grandkids. This female below has now taken over her territory. Big 🐾 to fill!
#SFW_ANU #birds #ecology

We've just won two grants! Both are under embargo, but some exciting plans will now come to fruition for bioacoustic studies of wild birds and whales in Canada and beyond. With my awesome collaborators @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social and S. Doucet.

How loud is a sparrow? Our new project involves measuring the amplitude of Savannah Sparrow songs.
This is a team investigation with @jaclynaubin.bsky.social, @sdobney.bsky.social, @nelsyninor.bsky.social, M. Bygrove, N. Emerick, and our sparrow collaborators, with funding from NSERC.

Our 2025 Savannah Sparrow research team in the field. What a pleasure to work alongside these field ornithologists at Bowdoin Scientific Station! @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social

Savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

Recording Savannah Sparrows with a Marantz PMD661 recorder and a parabolic reflector. Photo by Dan Mennill.

Savannah Sparrow nest with four nestlings

Measuring bill depth of a Savannah Sparrow during colour banding. All banding with permits. Photo by Dan Mennill.

Farewell Kent Island! With an A+ Savannah Sparrow team I helped record songs of 34 males, find 36 nests, and colour band 29 adults & 18 nestlings! More to come as the season finishes. Sad to leave, but thankful to be part of this project!@dmennill.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social #ornithology

My chapbook, Savannah Sparrow, has made it to the library at the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island. Kent Island is the origin of the ideas I explore in this essay on vocal learning in wild birds.

On this week's American Birding Podcast: An interesting study discussed on the monthly This Month in Birding segment led us to Miranda Zemmerelli, a PhD student at Dartmouth University.

Our acoustic search for threatened Leach's Storm-Petrels in the Bay of Fundy has begun! 🎤🐦🇨🇦
Supported by NSERC and New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund. @ingridpollet.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social

Sarah and I changed batteries for 10 storm-petrel recorders on Kent Island. This is part of our new collaboration with Ingrid Pollet and Patty Jones and other petrel researchers in eastern Canada. 🎤🎶🐦 @sdobney.bsky.social @ingridpollet.bsky.social @wildlifeacoustics.bsky.social

Last night's test of our Motus Audio night flight call recorder on Kent Island: we recorded Ovenbirds, Grey-cheeked Thrushes, Greater Yellowlegs, and diverse other warblers (lots of zeeps) and thrushes. @birdscanada.bsky.social

Savannah Sparrow nest on hatch day: two nestlings and two eggs.

Nesting is progressing nicely on Kent Island. We already have one Savannah Sparrow nest with nestlings! These tiny babies will be ready to leave the nest in just 7 more days! @dmennill.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

Today I launched a Motus Audio night flight call recorder at Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island. How many migrants will fly over the Bay of Fundy tonight? @birdscanada.bsky.social

Quick, it's not too late to participate in #Birdathon! Help us protect birds by donating, or raise money yourself and do a big day! Our team, The Windsor Warblers (www.canadahelps.org/s/jmhwMw) had so much fun on our big day! @nelsyninor.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @birdscanada.bsky.social

Ground nest with four eggs, hidden under blueberry bush.

The Savannah Sparrows are officially nesting on Kent Island! Our team found the first nest yesterday with 4 eggs 🥚. The happy couple is N.WB & B.RN, returning birds from 2024. Check in as we find more! @dmennill.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @nelsyninor.bsky.social

Our team assisted visiting scientists banding Herring Gulls and Greater Black-backed Gulls on Kent Island. Thank you Rob and Laura from Birds Canada and Environment Canada for letting us be gullible.
@nelsyninor.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social @birdscanada.bsky.social

Our Kent Island team is hard at work building our 2025 song library, a catalogue of songs recorded from all banded Savannah Sparrows on the island. Great work Jaclyn, Sarah, Nelsy, Madison, Natalie! 👩‍🔬🎤🎶🐦
@jaclynaubin.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social @nelsyninor.bsky.social @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social

This weekend was the official release of my chapbook: SAVANNAH SPARROW. This popular-science essay describes our research on vocal learning in wild birds. Part of Pelee Island Bird Observatory's "Birders on Birds" chapbook series, all proceeds support bird conservation on Pelee Island. [1/3]

Today I had the pleasure of being the Celebrity Birder at the Pelee Island Bird Observatory’s Springsong Festival. I delivered a talk at the Pelee Island Winery to a great crowd of birders and nature lovers. Thank you @peleeislandbird.bsky.social !

In honour of World Migratory Bird Day, tonight at Ojibway Nature Centre in Windsor I will present a talk: "How wild birds learn to sing: the dynamics of vocal learning in nature." 🐦🎶🎤
Everyone is welcome! Details are in this article in today's campus Daily News:
www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/20...

In the fog on Kent Island at Bowdoin Scientific Station, Savannah Sparrow banding is underway. Great research Sarah, Nelsy, Madison, Natalie, and Jaclyn! @sdobney.bsky.social @nelsyninor.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

"Exploring Bird Sounds with Dan Mennill." What an honour to be interviewed on The Warblers, the Birds Canada podcast.
Listen here:
Spotify: tinyurl.com/2skkart8
Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/2stnm5ak
Birds Canada: www.birdscanada.org/warblerspodc...
@birdscanada.bsky.social @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social

Badlands with conifers in the foreground

Short-grass prairie landscape

Stunning blue male Mountain Bluebird

Western Kingbird staring me down

On May 23rd I will be taking part in the Birds Canada Birdathon here in southern Alberta to help raise $ to support bird conservation in Canada. Please consider donating using the link below.

#birdathon2025 #birds #birdingforconservation

www.canadahelps.org/me/ngYdTdj