Center for Conservation Biology

January 10, 2023
The song sparrow is one of the most polytypic bird species in North America

Atlantic song sparrow declines

By: Bryan Watts1/10/23 The song sparrow is likely the most polytypic species in North America if not the world.  More than 50 subspecies have been proposed […]
January 9, 2023
Argentina mixed crew

Working Together

By: Bryan Watts1/6/2023 Our nation stands as a house divided against itself.  Somewhere along the way we have lost our sense of common purpose.  We increasingly […]
October 6, 2022
Banded male osprey fishing on the upper James River. This bird was banded by CCB in 2012 as a nestling and is now nesting on the same nests where it was hatched. Photo by Bryan Watts.

CCB Newsletter Photo Gallery

October 6, 2022
Whimbrel fitted with transmitter.

Tracking Whimbrel

By: Bryan Watts10/5/22 CCB has formed a collaborative with Dominion Energy and The Nature Conservancy to better understand the risks posed by offshore wind facilities to […]
October 6, 2022
A trail camera photograph of a female American black duck with three ducklings

Trail Cameras Capture Bayside Birdlife

By: Chance Hines10/4/2022 The bayside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore supports some of the most extensive saltmarsh habitat in the state and has been designated as an […]
October 6, 2022
A gray catbird gleans a ripe fruit from a viburnum bush

Ripening Fruits Fuel Migrating Songbirds

By: Chance Hines10/4/2022 Autumn approaches and, sensing this seasonal shift, migratory songbirds throughout our region begin making their way towards wintering destinations as far away as […]
October 6, 2022
Eastern black rail in marsh.

Chasing Black Rails

By: Bryan Watts10/4/22 It is 2:30 on an April night in 1993 and I am standing on the edge of the Guinea marshes along the western […]
September 30, 2022

Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers at Peak Population Size in Virginia

By Chance Hines9/30/2022 The red-cockaded woodpecker has been classified as endangered since 1970 by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Virginia supports the northern-most […]
July 11, 2022
Peregrine falcon with brood of two males and two females.

From penthouse view to penthouse view

By: Bryan Watts7/10/22 The pair of peregrine falcons that has been inhabiting in a nest box on the roof of the Armada Hoffler Building in the […]
July 11, 2022
Common raven.

Quarry Birds

By: Bryan Watts7/10/22 The high demand for rock and other resources to supply our growing infrastructure needs along with modern quarry techniques and machinery is creating […]
July 11, 2022
Results of aerial surveys for occupied bald eagle nests 1976-2016

New Paper: Social burden and bald eagle recovery

By: Bryan Watts7/10/22 Survival of the majority of the endangered species in the United States will ultimately depend on our ability to manage habitats on private […]
July 7, 2022
Jan Reese talking osprey and other species over lunch

The osprey man of Tilghman

By: Bryan Watts7/7/2022 It is impossible to think about osprey in the upper Chesapeake Bay, particularly around the area of the Choptank River and Eastern Bay, […]
July 1, 2022
Muskrat skulls collected from eagle nests along the middle James River.

Eagles and Muskrats

By: Bryan Watts6/29/22 We turn south onto Occupacia, one of the most productive creeks along the Rappahannock.  Ducks rise up in waves ahead of us leaving […]
April 7, 2022
Male peregrine in a stoop.  Males do most of the hunting and brood provisioning.

Recent Literature from CCB

4/7/2022 Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters. 2021 Nature Scientific Reports Watts, Smith, Hines, Duval, Hamilton, Keyes, Paquet, Pririe-Dominix, Rausch, Truitt, Winn and […]
April 7, 2022
Truncated map of CCB report downloads by country.

Find CCB research on ScholarWorks

By: Bryan Watts4/6/2022 One of CCB’s objectives is to make information available that will have a positive impact on conservation outcomes.  CCB conducts primary conservation research.  […]
April 7, 2022
John Dos Passos, wife Elizabeth and daughter Lucy on farm at Spence’s Point

Dos Passos: A conservation legacy

By Bryan Watts4/6/22 Bald eagles have now recovered throughout most of their range and certainly within the Chesapeake Bay.  Now, so long removed from the silent […]
April 4, 2022
An Ipswich sparrow sporting a nano-tag at Assateague National Seashore.

Tracking reveals sexual differences in Ipswich sparrow winter and spring ecology

By: Chance Hines4/4/22 Spring is in the air and many of our wintering birds are preparing for their annual trip north after enduring the bitterness of […]
April 2, 2022
Chuck-will’s-widow on nest in Virginia.

Nightjar Network to Begin Exciting New Chapter

By: Bryan Watts4/1/2022 The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) and the Maine Natural History Observatory (MNHO) have entered into an agreement to transition the operations of […]