Students co-author 2 publications about bird-window collisions on campus

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Five current students/recent graduates are co-authors on 2 manuscripts recently accepted for publication. Students have been completing bird-window collision surveys at 15 buildings on campus since February 2018. Over 30 students have participated in the research (which has twice been offered as a stand-alone course, and several times offered as independent research credit). 

The research has resulted in 2 professional presentations at conferences in 2018 & 2019, and 12 professional research posters at the April Undergraduate Forum (2018 & 2019). Students worked solo or in groups to ask different questions about influences of window area, vegetation, time of day, weather patterns, building height, bird migratory status, presence of bird feeders and perching sites, distances to roads and to the New River, and much more. One student also used DNA barcoding to help identify some of our unknown birds.

The research will be published this winter in the latest issue of the natural history journal, Banisteria:

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Powers, Karen E., Lauren A. Burroughs*, Breann M. Mullen*, Hannah C. Reed*, and Zoe Q. Krajcirovic*Investigating campus features that influence bird-window collisions at Radford University, Virginia. Banisteria 53:pp.

Paniagua-Ugarte, Claudia Y.*, Karen E. Powers, and Robert R. Sheehy. Using DNA barcoding to identify carcasses from bird-window collisions at Radford University. Banisteria 53:pp.

* = student authors

The publications are the fruition of nearly 1000 hours of surveys by our students. The work continues - 8 students are continuing the surveys this semester. 

Aug 26, 2019
Karen Powers
540.831.5146
biology@radford.edu