Please visit Henry Streby’s research website at http://henrystreby.wix.com/research
I earned a B.S. in Wildlife Biology with a certificate in Environmental Studies from Ohio University in 2001. In 2005, I earned an M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology advised by Dr. Donald Miles at Ohio University. In 2010, I earned a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and Management from the University of Minnesota working with Dr. David Andersen in the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. I continued working with Dr. Andersen as a postdoctoral research associate through July 2012 coordinating an international study of songbird demography and habitat selection. In August 2012 I started as an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow sponsored by Dr. David Buehler at the University of Tennessee and collaborating with Dr. Andersen at the Minnesota Coop Unit and with many other scientists. As an NSF Postdoc I am coordinating a range-wide study of migration in a hybridizing songbird species complex, and I am coordinating this study as a Visiting Research Scholar in the Beissinger Lab here at UC Berkeley.
I explore the interconnectivity of population ecology and evolutionary biology with the goal of simultaneously producing actionable science for biodiversity conservation and improving our knowledge of the evolution of bird behaviors. Concurrently, my team and I improve upon conventional methods and develop novel methods in field data collection and analysis to make progress in such research possible. We have used radio telemetry to monitor hundreds of nesting songbirds (Ovenbirds, Hermit Thrushes, Wood Thrushes, and Golden-winged Warblers) and hundreds of fledglings of those species, and found that studying the entire breeding season (nesting and post-fledging together) is critical for understanding individual fitness, population productivity, breeding habitat selection, and full-season habitat requirements for species often described as habitat specialists. As an NSF Postdoc I (with many collaborators) am using light-level geolocation to investigate range-wide migratory connectivity of Golden-winged Warblers, Blue-winged Warblers, and their hybrids with the goal of developing full-life-cycle conservation plans for this species complex of high conservation concern. By minimizing the mass of the geolocator harness and reducing the handling time required to deploy such units, we have successfully tracked these 9-g birds through their entire annual cycle. Only one full year into this study, we’ve already found some pretty cool results (see forthcoming Current Biology paper).
Publications
All publications available for download from my website
http://henrystreby.wix.com/research
2015
Streby, H.M., G.R. Kramer, S.M. Peterson, J.A. Lehman, D.A. Buehler, and D.E. Andersen. 2015. Tornadic storm avoidance behavior in breeding songbirds. Current Biology. Online early view now. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.079
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, G.R. Kramer, and D.E. Andersen. 2015. Post-independence fledgling ecology in a migratory songbird: implications for breeding-grounds conservation. Animal Conservation. Online early view now. DOI: 10.1111/acv.12163
Peterson, S.M., H.M. Streby, and D.E. Andersen. 2015. Spatially explicit models of full-season productivity and implications for landscape management of golden-winged warblers in the western Great Lakes region. Studies in Avian Biology. In press.
Peterson, S.M., H.M. Streby, and D.E. Andersen. 2015. Management implications of brood division in golden-winged warblers. Studies in Avian Biology. In press.
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, and D.E. Andersen.2015. Golden-winged warbler fledgling habitat use and survival in the western Great Lakes region. Studies in Avian Biology. In press.
Streby, H.M, R.W. Rohrbaugh, D.A. Buehler, D.E. Andersen, R. Vallender, D.I. King, J.L. Larkin, and T. Will. 2015. Research on golden-winged warblers: recent progress and current needs. Studies in Avian Biology. In press.
2014
Streby, H.M., J.M. Refsnider, S.M. Peterson, and D.E. Andersen. 2014.Retirement investment theory explains patterns in songbird nest site choice. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. 281:20131834.
Streby, H.M., J.M. Refsnider, and D.E. Andersen. 2014. Redefining reproductive success in songbirds: moving beyond the nest-success paradigm. The Auk: Ornithological Advances 131:718-726.
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, J.A. Lehman, G.R. Kramer, B.J. Vernasco, and D.E. Andersen. 2014. Do digestive comments confound body mass as a measure of relative condition in nestling songbirds? Wildlife Society Bulletin 38:305-310.
2013
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, C.F. Gesmundo, M.K. Johnson, A.C. Fish, J.A. Lehman, and D.E. Andersen. 2013. Radio-transmitters do not affect seasonal productivity of female golden-winged warblers. Journal of Field Ornithology84:316-321.
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, J.A. Lehman, G.R. Kramer, K.J. Iknayan, and D.E. Andersen. 2013. The effects of force-fledging and prematurely fledging on the survival of nestling songbirds. Ibis 155:616-620.
Streby, H.M. and D.E. Andersen. 2013. Survival of fledgling ovenbirds: influences of habitat characteristics at multiple spatial scales. Condor 115:403-410.
Streby, H.M. and D.E. Andersen. 2013. Testing common assumptions in studies of songbird nest success. Ibis 155:327-337.
Streby, H.M. and D.E. Andersen. 2013. Movements, cover-type selection, and survival of fledgling ovenbirds in managed deciduous and mixed-coniferous forests. Forest Ecology and Management 287:9-16.
Streby, H.M., B. Scholtens, A.P. Monroe, S.M. Peterson, and D.E. Andersen. 2013. The Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) as a model for testing food-value theory? American Midland Naturalist 169:214-220.
2012
Streby, H.M. and D.E. Andersen. 2012. Movements and cover-type selection by fledgling ovenbirds after independence from adult care. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124:621-626.
Streby, H.M., J.P. Loegering, and D.E. Andersen. 2012. Spot mapping underestimates song-territory size and use of mature forest by breeding male golden-winged warblers in Minnesota, USA. Wildlife Society Bulletin 36:40-46.
Peterson, S.M., H.M. Streby, and D.E. Andersen. 2012. Effects of brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds may persist in the post-fledging period. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124:183-186.
2011
Streby, H.M. and D.E. Andersen. 2011. Seasonal productivity in a population of migratory songbirds: why nest data are not enough. Ecosphere 2(78):1-15.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES10-00187.1
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, T.L. McAllister, and D.E. Andersen. 2011. Use of early-successional managed northern forest by mature-forest species during the post-fledging period. Condor 113:817-824.
Refsnider, J.M., T.S. Mitchell, H.M. Streby, J.T. Strickland, D.A. Warner, and F.J. Janzen. 2011. A generalized method to determine detectability of rare and cryptic species using the ornate box turtle as a model. Wildlife Society Bulletin 35:93-100.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., C. Folsom-O’Keefe, H.M. Streby, S.J. Bent, K. Tsao, D. Fish, and M. Diuk-Wasser. 2011. Regional variation in immature Ixodes scapularis parasitism on North American songbirds: implications for the spread of the Lyme pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Journal of Medical Entomology 48:422-428.
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, and D.E. Andersen. 2011. Invertebrate availability and vegetation characteristics explain use of non-nesting cover types by mature forest songbirds during the post-fledging period. Journal of Field Ornithology 82:406-414.
Kapfer, P.M., H.M. Streby, B. Gurung, A. Simcharoen, C.C. McDougal, and J.L.D. Smith. 2011. Fine-scale spatiotemporal variation in tiger (Panthera tigris) diet in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Wildlife Biology 17:1-9.
2010 and Earlier
Streby, H.M. and D.B. Miles. 2010. Assessing ecosystem restoration alternatives in eastern deciduous hardwood forests using avian nest survival. Open Environmental Sciences 4:39-48.
Streby, H.M., S.M. Peterson, and P.M. Kapfer. 2009. Fledging success is a poor indicator of the effects of blow fly infestation on ovenbird survival. Condor111:193-197.
Streby, H.M., J.M. Refsnider, S.M. Peterson, and D.E. Andersen. 2008. Barred owl predation on hermit thrush and ovenbird fledglings. Journal of Raptor Research 42:296-298.
Refsnider, J., J. Moore, and H. Streby. 2008. Sphenodon punctatus (common tuatara): prey detection. Herpetological Review 39:347-348.
Manuscripts in Review/Revision
Our group currently has 5 manuscripts in review or in revision and others in late stages of preparation. Stay tuned here and on my research website for our latest products.
LINKS TO POPULAR COVERAGE (see my research website for additional recent coverage).
Our Evacuation Migration paper in Current Biology paper has received world-wide attention from >200 media outlets, a sampling of which has been archived by Altmetric here:
http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=www.cell.com&citation_id=2996539
To listen to a story about the Golden-winged Warbler demography project by Minnesota Public Radio’s Dan Gunderson, go here:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/16/gold-winged-warbler
To view photos from that MPR story taken by Ann Arbor Miller, go here:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/16/photos-gold-winged-warblers
To read a story featuring the Ovenbird project by Living Bird magazine’s Hugh Powell, go here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2376
Check out the current issue of Living Bird magazine for a story by Gustave Axelson about the Golden-winged Warbler demography project.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2629
ACADEMIC ANCESTRY
My academic ancestry traces direct lines to the respective “fathers” of American ecology and wildlife management and it gives me a strong feeling of responsibility.
Master’s Ancestry –
Donald Miles – Robert Ricklefs – Robert MacArthur – G. Evelyn Hutchinson
Doctoral Ancestry –
David Andersen – Orrin Rongstad – Robert McCabe – Aldo Leopold
Undergraduate Students
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
I have been lucky to work with more than 30 technicians in my 10 field seasons as a graduate student and postdoc. Many of them have continued on to graduate positions of their own or will be doing so very soon. I would like to take credit for their success, but I think I simply did well at hiring people who were already on their way. Here is what some have been up to:
Sean Peterson (2007, 2008, and 2009)
Sean joined my field crew in the second year of my dissertation work and we have been working together ever since. Sean successfully defended his Master’s Thesis “Landscape productivity and the ecology of brood division in golden-winged warblers of the western Great Lakes region” in November 2013 at the University of Minnesota where he was co-advised by me and David Andersen of the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Sean will likely start a doctoral program in the next year, and someday I will probably be working for him.
Tara McAllister (2006, 2007, 2010, site leader 2011)
Tara is the reason the first field season of my dissertation work was successful. Her tireless work ethic was a life saver during the all-important pilot season. Tara returned to help get the golden-winged warbler demography project up and running in 2010, and she independently led one of our field crews in 2011. Tara is now living in Brainerd, Minnesota with her husband and son, and she still helps out at our Minnesota field sites each summer.
Justin Lehman (2010, site co-leader 2011, 2012)
Justin joined our crew for the pilot season of the golden-winged warbler demography project in 2010. He returned to help me lead the largest site for the following two years and shouldered a lot of responsibility. Justin is now working on an MS at the University of Tennessee with Dr. David Buehler.
Gunnar Kramer (2011, site leader 2012)
Gunnar worked on the golden-winged warbler demography project in 2011 when he spent a couple of weeks at one of our Minnesota sites and then helped Sean Peterson in his first year of work in Manitoba. Gunnar returned in 2012 and excelled at independently leading a crew at one of our sites in very challenging conditions. Gunnar started his MS work in fall 2013 in David Andersen’s lab at the University of Minnesota.
Adrian Monroe (2008)
Adrian worked with me for one season during my dissertation research before starting graduate school himself. Adrian went on to earn his MS working with Tim O’Connell at Oklahoma State University and is now working on his PhD with Dr. Sam Riffell at Mississippi State University.
Dianne Robinson (2008)
Dianne worked with me for one season during my dissertation research, and she and Eric Michel proved that UW Steven’s Point grads make solid field biologists. Dianne recently completed her MS at Texas A&M University with Dr. Michael Morrison, and is now a wildlife biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Eric Michel (2008)
Eric is both brains and brawn. Eric worked with me for one season during my dissertation work, and he let nothing stop him from getting in the field and getting the job done. Eric recently earned his MS at Mississippi State University with Dr. Steve Demarais, and he is currently a PhD student in the same lab.
Kelly Iknayan (2007)
Kelly worked with me for one season during my dissertation research before moving to Hawaii and joining the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. Our paths have unexpectedly crossed again as Kelly is now working on her PhD with Dr. Steven Beissinger at the University of California, Berkeley.
Alexander Fish (2011, 2012)
Alex worked on my crew for two summers on the golden-winged warbler demography project. Alex’s work ethic has a way of making everyone else feel lazy and unorganized with his endless energy and constant attention to detail. He was the nest searching champion of 2012. Alex started his MS work in Dr. Christopher Moorman’s lab at North Carolina State University in 2013.
Renae Poole (2011, 2012)
Renae is a talented marine biologist who shared her skills with the bird world for two summers working on the golden-winged warbler demography project. Renae will soon finish her MS in marine biology at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Alison Edmund (2008)
Alison worked on my dissertation project for one season before continuing on to her own graduate research. She recently earned her MS at Southern Illinois University with Dr. Eric Hellgren.
Michael Johnson (2011, 2012)
Mike worked on John Loegering’s golden-winged warbler crew at one of our study sites in 2010, and I was happy to have his expertise on my crew for the following two years. Mike is a great outdoorsman and field biologist who is reliable and hardworking no matter the conditions. Mike is going to be successful at whatever he chooses to do next.
Callie Gesmundo (2011)
Callie worked with me for one year on the golden-winged warbler demography project. She was the nest searching champion of 2011. Callie has since gained a variety of field experience in other positions, and I suspect she will be conducting her own research in the near future.