Mewaldt, L.R. & J.R. King. 1977. The annual cycle of white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) in coastal California. The Condor 79:445-455.
Examined variation in timing of molt and breeding for White-crowned Sparrows at the Palomarin Field Station in central California. The phase of the annual cycle with respect to calendar date varied about ~15 days from the median, delay being correlated with cold and (or) rainy weather during the pre-nesting period (but not correlated with weather during other phases of the annual cycle). The resurgence of androgenic activity in late winter for White-crowned Sparrows, as indicated by the condition of the cloacal protuberance (cp) in the population of Z.l.nutalli at Palomarin, was a direct function of air temperature during the reproductive period. 

DeSante, D.F. & G.R. Geupel. 1987. Landbird productivity in central coastal California: the relationship to annual rainfall and a reproductive failure in 1986. The Condor 89:636-653.
Analyzed variation in breeding productivity in relation to weather variables from 1976 to 1986 at the Palomarin Field Station in coastal California. The authors found a relationship between breeding productivity and the previous winter’s rainfall. This paper also considers the potential implications of changes in different climate variables and discusses the results of extreme climatological events (e.g. drought and ENSO) on breeding productivity.  

DeSante, D.F. & L.F. Baptista. 1989. Factors affecting the termination of breeding in Nuttall's white-crowned sparrow. Wilson Bulletin 101:120-124.
Analyzed data from 247 Nuttall’s White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) nests monitored at the Palomarin Field Station from 1979-1985. Results indicate that the timing of the termination of breeding in Nuttall’s White-crowned Sparrows is a function of local weather conditions.  

Pyle, P., Nur, N., Henderson , R.P. and DeSante, D.F. 1993. Effects of weather and lunar cycle on nocturnal migration of landbirds at Southeast Farallon Island, California. Condor 95: 343-361.
Examined proximal climatic and lunar effects on arrival and departure of nocturnal migrant landbirds at Southeast Farallon Island, California. Developed predictive models including date, weather and lunar variables both spring and fall, which accounted for 33-40°/o of variation in arrival totals and 18-2 1% of variation in departure proportions.

Weathers, W.W., C.L. Davidson, C.R. Olson, M.L Morton, N. Nur and T.R. Famula. 2002. Altitudinal variation in parental energy expenditure by White-crowned Sparrows. Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 2915-2924.
This study compared daily energy expenditures between montane and coastal White-crowned Sparrow populations. The study found that the thermal context of breeding behaviors can significantly affect variation in daily energy expenditure for White-crowned Sparrows.

Heath, S. K. and G. Ballard. 2003. Bird species composition, phenology, nesting substrate, and productivity for the Owens Valley alluvial fan, Eastern Sierra Nevada, California 1998-2002. Great Basin Birds 6:18-35.
Provides phenological information for Eastern Sierra Nevada birds. Speculates on riparian habitat use when preferred high elevation habitats are unavailable due to late spring snow pack. 

Chase, M.K., N. Nur, and G.R. Geupel. 2005. Effects of weather and population density on reproductive success and population dynamics in a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) population: a long-tern study. The Auk 122:571-592.
Examined relationships among weather variables and reproductive success in a resident Song Sparrow population at the Palomarin Field Station in coastal California from 1980-2000. Found relationships between rainfall and nest survival/length of breeding season, as well as between summer temperature and the number of young fledged per nest.    

Nur, N., J. K. Wood, K. Lindquist, C. A. Howell, and G. R. Geupel. In prep. Trends in Avian Abundance and Diversity in Restored and Remnant Riparian Habitat on the Cosumnes River.
Investigated the relationship between local weather variables, ENSO events, flooding, and avian abundance at a riparian site in the Central Valley over 11 years.

[back to top]

Global Climate Cycles:

Ballard, G., G. R. Geupel, N. Nur, & T. Gardali. 2003. Long-term declines and decadal patterns in population trends of songbirds in western North America. Condor 105:737-755.
Analyzed population trends based on mist-netting data from the Palomarin Field Station in coastal California collected during the autumns of 1979-1999. Capture rates of certain species and groups appeared to be affected by climate variables, and accelerating declines since 1990 may reflect effects of large-scale climate cycles, particularly on long-distance migrants. Positive (warm) phase of the PDO linked to higher productivity in several species, and abrupt shifts in phase of the PDO correlated with abrupt shifts in population trajectories for several species.

DiGaudio, R. T. 2003. Climate change and migration:  wintering-ground arrival and departure timing of four North American passerines. Master’s thesis. University of Michigan. (available upon request)
Examined fall arrival and spring departure dates based on 21 years of banding data (1979-2000) for four migratory passerine bird species that over-winter at  the Palomarin Field Station:  Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia aticapulla), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), and Townsend’s Warbler (Dendroica townsendi).  Also compared two different measures of arrival and departure dates and investigated relationships between migration timing and climate variables.

Richardson, T., P. Pyle, R. Burnett, and P. Capitolo. 2003. The occurrence and
seasonal distribution of migratory birds on southeast Farallon Island, 1968-1999. Western Birds 34: 58-96.
Found that mean spring arrival dates for many species of landbirds migrating through southeast Farallon Island have become earlier and mean fall arrival dates have become later over a 32-year period.

MacMynowski, D. P., T. L. Root, G. Ballard, and G. Geupel. 2007. Changes in spring arrival of Nearctic-Neotropical migrants attributed to multi-scalar climate. Global Change Biology.
Analyzed the spring phenology of 21 Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbird species in central and northern California. Using observational and banding data at multiple sites (including Palomarin), they evaluate evidence for a change in arrival timing being linked to either non-climatic or multi-scalar climatic explanations. They found that migrants tend to arrive earlier in association with warmer temperatures, positive NAO indices, and stronger ENSO indices.  

Howell, C.A., et al. In prep. Impacts of flooding and global climate cycle on Song Sparrow reproductive success at Cosumnes River Preserve, California.
Examined the relationship between precipitation, breeding season flooding, winter flooding, and ENSO events and Song Sparrow reproductive success over an 11 year period.

MacMynowski, D. P., G. Ballard, T. L. Root, A. Jaramillo, C. J. Ralph, and G. Geupel. In review. Impacts of climatic change on autumn migratory phenology of songbirds in western North America.
Examined autumn migratory phenology at four locations in California (including Palomarin) for 18 songbird species. They concluded that there is widespread evidence of earlier fall phenology – likely from earlier breeding – that is consistent with research detecting both earlier western North American spring and advanced spring migration on the Pacific coast. This multi-site analysis provides greater confidence in the detection of linked phenological changes in species’ life history throughout the seasons (spring, summer, fall) as well as a larger geographic perspective on western North American songbird migration.

[back to top]

Future Predictions:

Seavy, N.E., K. Dybala, and M. Snyder. 2008. Climate Models and Ornithology.  The Auk 125(1):1-10.
This review paper discusses climate models, how they are used to make projections about future climates, and how this information can be integrated with local avian demography.  It uses the Chase et al. paper (Song Sparrow reproductive success at Palo) as an example, and discusses how changes in local climate at Palomarin may influence the reproductive success of Song Sparrows.

Stralberg, D. et al. In prep. Modeling terrestrial ecosystem responses to climate change using birds as upper trophic level indicators.
Uses climate data to model current bird distributions and then projects how future distributions may change under various future climate scenarios.

----
This information was compiled by Chrissy Howell with assistance from Nat Seavy, Tom Gardali, and Grant Ballard.