Prize-winning poster at the Pan-African Ornithological Congress in Tanzania  

MSc student Marc Burman displayed a poster based on his research project at the Pan-African Ornithological Congress last week. It was adjudged one of the two best posters at the conference.

Marc's project is a classic analysis of citizen science data, this time data generated by the bird ringing community in South Africa over five decades. Marc is assembling the primary moult data on the Barn Swallow, collected by ringers since the 1970s. The timing of moult can be quantified remarkably precisely, more precisely than timing of breeding or timing of migration. Moult, along with breeding and migration, is an energetically expensive component of the annual cycle, and its timing has to slotted in along with these other events.

There is intense research interest in the changes in the timing of the major events in the annual cycle in response to global change. This is especially true for a long-distance migrant such as the Barn Swallow.

Well done, Marc.

Les Underhill
2012-10-24

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