TITLE: Development of a Bird Banding Recapture/Resighting Database

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael J. Conroy

Funding: $50,000

Project Duration: July 1, 1999 - December 31, 2000

OBJECTIVES/JUSTIFICATION:

Objective: The objective is to develop a bird banding recapture/resighting database for use in contemporary and future nongame, migratory bird conservation. A "recapture" is the capture of a previously banded bird. A "resighting" is the observation of a bird previously marked with a unique identifier such as a neck collar, wing tag, or radio transmitter. Recaptures and resightings are usually made by the original bander, but may be made by other banders, collaborators or the public. Recaptures and resightings constitute the majority of post-release data obtained from banded nongame birds, and for most analytical purposes the two can be considered equivalent. Individual banders often make extensive use of their own recapture and resighting data. However, for reasons explained below, recapture and resighting data are not included in the BBL database and, consequently are not available to others for meta-analyses.

Need: In 1994 the Biological Resources Division (BRD) commissioned a panel of experts to review operations of the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) and the broader North American bird banding program. The Review Panel presented its final report and recommendations (The North American Bird Banding Program - Into the 21^st Century) to BRD in September, 1997. The Review Panel made numerous recommendations for improving policies, procedures and organization of BBL, with emphasis on improving data management. They recommended that data processing be improved by taking advantage of current computer technology, including using the Internet for collecting and disseminating data. Furthermore, they recommended that BBL enhance the quality and quantity of banding data to make them more useful for contemporary analyses and conservation needs. Regarding the latter recommendation, the Review Panel acknowledged the value of recapture/resighting data, identified the need to make them available for meta-analyses, and specifically recommended that BBL develop a recapture/resighting database for that purpose.

BRD followed-up the recommendation by appointing an inter-agency, inter-disciplinary Task Force to evaluate and refine it. The technically oriented Task Force concurred with the Review Panel's recommendation for a recapture/ resighting database. The Task Force defined basic parameters for a database, and made recommendations on how BBL should proceed with development.

Given the widely recognized need for more and better data for nongame bird research and management, and given the strong recommendations from both the Review Panel and the Task Force, BBL will be charged with initiating development of a recapture/resighting database in early 1999. To accomplish this, BBL must design a recapture/resighting database structure; develop record formats, data edits, and ways for the data to be received and disseminated electronically via the Internet; and integrate the new database into its vast existing databases and re-engineered computer system. Metadata descriptions and data set profiles, including methods, effort, and other parameters used to collect the data, must be developed, and data sets appropriate for inclusion in the database must be identified and obtained.

Background-- Recapture data have been available since the beginning of the North American bird banding program nearly a century ago, but, other than to document site fidelity and longevity (age) records of individual birds, there was no obvious use for recapture data in the early decades of the program. Instead, early banding efforts sought "recoveries" of banded birds to document migration. Recoveries of nongame birds were relatively rare, one time events in which the banded bird typically was found dead by the public at some location away from the banding site. Recoveries were deemed more valuable than recaptures, because they provided information on both movement and longevity. Thus, from the beginning of the banding program, a bias favoring recovery data over recapture data developed. The bias became more pronounced in the 1950s and 1960s when, despite a preponderance of nongame bird banding and recaptures, banding program policies and procedures became strongly influenced by game bird - essentially waterfowl - management, which had become well organized, scientific, and dependent on band recoveries for defining populations and determining survival rates, harvest rates and other parameters of interest in setting annual hunting regulations.

The situation changed in the 1970s and 1980s. Interest in population ecology, monitoring and management of nongame birds grew. The need for more data became apparent, particularly survival and recruitment data to complement population trend data from sources such as the Breeding Bird Survey. At the same time, modern band analysis theory was developed, and a suite of powerful analytical tools became available. Statistical models originally designed for analyzing waterfowl band recovery data were adapted to handle recapture data. Both game and nongame researchers and managers quickly took advantage and developed large-scale, cooperative projects using recaptures and resightings of banded birds as the principal source of data. Examples include the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyway studies of Canada goose populations, the Arctic Goose Joint Venture project of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and in the nongame bird area, the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) project and the Cornell Nestbox Network study of dispersal. Many individual researchers now also use these models with recapture/resighting data in smaller-scale, local studies of site fidelity, population size, survival and recruitment rates, and territory size. In most cases, their objectives cannot be met without recapture/resighting data. Even some migration researchers now depend on recapture data, having changed their objectives from documenting movements with recoveries to studying migration stopover ecology, length of stay, and energetics.

The evolution of analytical models and use of recapture and resighting data continued into the 1990s. Versatile models capable of using covariables as well as recovery and recapture data in the same analyses have been developed. These models enable more precise estimates of parameters, more powerful tests for differences in them, and more reliable inferences on the effects of physiology, environmental factors, management actions, etc., on birds.So, today near the end of the 1990s, we find the situation where large amounts of recapture and resighting data are available at the field and individual project level, the need for these data in nongame and gamebird management is clear, the statistical models to analyze the data are well developed, but no means for centrally storing and making them available for meta-analyses exists. Thus, the logic and need for BBL to develop a recapture/resighting database.

TASKS/ TIMETABLE: The Principal Investigator will, in consultation with the Chief, BBL (the Project Officer), hire and direct a Research Associate who will develop the recapture/resighting database. Specifically tasks will be completed according to the timetable below, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the Project Officer and the Principal Investgiator

By 31 December 1999

• Develop the structure for the database record (fields).
• Define the exact types and frequencies of recapture/resighting data to be accepted into the database (not all records have universal value).

By 30 March 2000

• Develop appropriate internal and external edit checks to ensure that data being entered into this database are of high quality and meet criteria for a Director's approved database.
• Assure that the database record and edit checks are integrated into bander software (BAND MANAGER) so that banders can submit recaptures and resightings electronically along with banding data.
• Develop the structure and record fields for individual project profiles that will describe how the data were collected, time frame of the project, and amount of effort, and requisite assumptions. (This information is important for selecting appropriate analytical models).

By 31 June 2000

• Obtain sample data sets and test the edit checks as well as the database structure.
• Assess the feasibility/desirability of developing a prescribed recapture program similar to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)'s Retrapping Adults for Survival project. (Other BTO monitoring projects have served as good models for North American projects).
• Assess the feasibility/desirability of incorporating recapture/resighting data from large-scale, cooperative projects such as MAPS and the Flyway goose projects into the BBL database. (No permanent repository currently exists for the hundreds of thousands of goose resighting records collected at considerable expense to conservation agencies.

By 30 September 2000

• Survey banders to locate individual data sets suitable for inclusion in the database. (Many banders by design or serendipity have accumulated good recapture data that are at risk of being lost when the banders retire).
• Prepare standard metadata descriptions for the NBII Metadata clearinghouse, and assure compliance with NBII, BRD, USGS, and DOI data standards.
• Completion of internet site for access to data

A Final Report will be prepared and submitted by 31 December 2000 and will include:

• A comprehensive summary of progress on each of the above tasks.
• A synthesis of the strengths and weaknesses of the database, and potential applications.
• Recommendations for continued improvement, Q/A and Q/C.
  
  
  

EXPECTED PRODUCTS: The primary product will be the Recapture/Resighting database. It is expected that initially several hundred thousand, and eventually millions, of records will be available in the database. Secondary products will include data set profiles, guidelines, metadata description for the NBII Clearinghouse, and the software associated with the database (structure, edits, program documentation, and software for users to extract data via the BBL web site).

A Final Report, as described above, will be prepared and submitted by 31 December 2000.

TECHNOLOGY/INFORMATION TRANSFER: Intended users of the recapture/resighting database include Federal, State, and Provincial conservation agencies; university associates, nongovermental conservation organizations, consulting businesses, and others engaged in research and management endeavors that require data on avian populations and demographics. Data, data set profiles, and software necessary to extract the data will be made available through the Internet. Users who cannot obtain data from the Internet will be able to obtain them from BBL or the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) Bird Banding Office via disk or hard copy.

PERSONNEL: A Research Associate will be hired who fulfills as many of the following qualifications as possible: 1) MS or PhD in wildlife biology, ornithology, or biometry; 2) a strong background in computer technology and programming for an Oracle Database; 3) experience and knowledge of bird banding; and 4) experience and knowledge in the use of contemporary capture/recapture models to analyze bird banding data. The Research Associate will have the primary responsibility for the development of the database and the preparation of reports, and will be supervised by the Principal Investigator in consultation with the Chief, BB. project. The Research Associate will consult with BRD-NBII personnel, and with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and CWS personnel, regarding policy and procedural considerations, and to ensure that their needs as major clients are met. The Research Associate will also work with BBL staff biologists and computer specialists to assure that development of the recapture/resighting database occurs in concert with other aspects of re-engineering BBL operations, and will report frequently to the Chief, BBL, and the Principal Investigator on progress of database development.

COOPERATORS/PARTNERS: BBL Chief (John Tautin)and staff (biologists, computer specialists, secretary) will assist the Research Associate in whatever ways are necessary to accomplish the project (in-kind and technical support). The CWS Bird Banding Office will also provide technical assistance, e.g., changes to the BAND MANAGER software to handle recaptures and resightings (in-kind and technical). BRD Patuxent Wildlife Center research biologists and biometricians (Principally James D. Nichols, William L. Kendall, John R. Sauer) will provide technical consultation (in-kind support). BBL will also provide office space, computer facilities, and other office related needs (in-kind).

FACILITIES/EQUIPMENT/STUDY AREA(S): BBL will provide an office, personal computer, software, telephone, FAX, e-mail, and other common office services and materials for the Project Leader. BBL has an extensive computer hardware and software infrastructure, including its own servers, that will be available to the Project Leader.

For further information contact Michael J. Conroy

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