David M. Bird

DAVID M. BIRD is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on birds of prey and he is often consulted by governments, universities, funding bodies, corporations, and the general public for his expertise. David has served as President(and Vice-President twice) of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc. (RRF), participated on numerous committees and organized several RRF symposia, three of which had published proceedings. He was also one of the editors on the original 1987 edition of this book. After obtaining his M.Sc. in 1976 and being appointed as the curator of the Macdonald Raptor Research Centre, David quickly completed his Ph.D. in 1978. As Director of what is now called the Avian Science and Conservation Centre, David has published over 150 scientific papers on birds of prey, supervised 37 graduate students to completion, and is currently supervising nine. As a Full Professor of Wildlife Biology, he teaches several courses in ornithology, fish and wildlife management, scientific communication, and wildlife conservation. David has served as Vice-President of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists twice and is currently the President-Elect. He is an elected Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union and an elected member representing Canada on the prestigious International Ornithological Committee. Over the last 30 years, David has given countless talks all over North America and made innumerable radio and television appearances both in Montreal and across Canada. He has written and co-edited seven books, including City Critters: How to Live with Urban Wildlife, Bird’s Eye-View: A Practical Compendium for Bird-Lovers, and The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Facts and Figures on the World’s Birds He is also a regular columnist on birds for The Gazette of Montreal and Bird Watcher’s Digest magazine. Throughout his career, David’s achievements have been recognized by various awards for wildlife conservation, the latest being the Quebec Education Award in 2007, the first ever given by Bird Protection Quebec. KEITH L. BILDSTEIN is Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania, where he oversees the Sanctuary’s conservation science and education programs, and coordinates the activities of its graduate students, international interns, and visiting scientists Bildstein received his B.S. in Biology at Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1972, and his Masters and Ph. D. in Zoology from the Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, in 1976 and 1978. He currently is Adjunct Professor of Wildlife Biology at the State University of New York-Syracuse. He was Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1978, and Distinguished Professor of Biology at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, from 1978 to 1992. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and has been President of the Wilson Ornithological Society and the Waterbird Society, and Vice-president of the Raptor Research Foundation. Bildstein edited the Wilson Bulletin, a quarterly journal of ornithology, from 1984 through 1987, and was a member of the editorial board of The Auk, the AOU’s journal, in 1997–2000. He has helped organize the scientific programs of seven national and seven international ornithological meetings. Bildstein has authored or coauthored more than 100 papers in ecology and conservation, including 40 on raptors. His books include White Ibis: wetland wanderer (1993), The raptor migration watch-site manual (1995 [with Jorje Zalles]), Raptor watch: a global directory of raptor migration sites (2000 [with Jorje Zalles]), and Migrating raptors of the world: their ecology and conservation  (2006). His co-edited works include Conservation Biology of Flamingos (2000), Hawkwatching in the Americas (2001), and Neotropical Raptors (2007). Keith’s current research involves the geography, ecology, and conservation of the world’s migratory raptors; energy management in migrating raptors; the feeding and movement ecology of New and Old World vultures; and the wintering, breeding, and movement ecology of American Kestrels.