GOS Winter Meeting
Tybee Island, GA
13 – 16 January 2023
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Clark Rushing, University of Georgia
Friday Night Speaker: Dr. Bob Sargent, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Approximately 50 attendees participated in our Winter Meeting activities which included interesting and informative presentations on Friday and Saturday, the banquet, and field trips. For the weekend, participants found 155 species (see list below) on field trips to the Corps of Engineers Disposal Site, Fort Pulaski, Fort Stewart, Harris Neck NWR, Hutchinson Island, Little Tybee Island, Richmond Hill Wastewater Treatment Facility, Savannah Christian Preparatory School, Skidaway Island, Solomon Tract, and Tybee Island. As always, thanks to our field trip leaders (Steve Calver, Larry Carlile, Diana Churchill, Stan Gray, Rene Heidt, Malcolm Hodges, Patrick Maurice, Mary Richards, Bob Sargent, Pam Smith, Russ Wigh, Steve Wagner).
Our Friday speaker, Dr. Bob Sargent, is a wildlife biologist for the Georgia Department of Natural resources and long-time member of the GOS executive committee. In his Friday evening presentation, “Not Your Average Flu Bug: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus’ Toll on Wild Birds in Georgia and Across the U.S.”, he discussed the history of avian flu and provided detailed information on recent impacts on birds in Georgia and elsewhere.
Dr. Clark Rushing, Assistant Professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, gave the Saturday Keynote address. His presentation, “New Technological Tools Advance Age-old Question in Avian Ecology”, focused on the various technologies available for tracking bird movements. Attaching tracking devices to birds allows researchers to gather information about local movements, dispersal, and migration. Dr. Rushing shared several examples of research that he and his graduate students are engaged in that use some of these different tracking technologies.
Bird List (155 species):
Canada Goose
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Common Ground Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
King Rail
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Wood Stork
Northern Gannet
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Western Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Western Tanager
Northern Cardinal