In 1987, the Raptor Information Center of the National Wildlife Federation published the Raptor Management Techniques Manual. The work, which was edited by Beth Giron Pendleton, Brian Millsap, Keith Cline, and David Bird, was a 420-page manual consisting of 19 chapters divided into three sections: Field Research Techniques, Management Techniques, and Laboratory Research Techniques. Each chapter was authored by one or more experts in the field, and each was reviewed by two independent referees. Priced at $25 U.S., the book sold out quickly. Although the Raptor Management Techniques Manual was published in binder format with the expectation that individual chapters would be updated and replaced as warranted, this never occurred. The Raptor Information Center was disbanded in the 1990s.

In 2000, the Raptor Research Foundation (RRF) approached the National Wildlife Federation and was given permission to pursue the publication of a thoroughly updated version of the manual. RRF then asked the two of us to solicit authors for individual chapters, edit the new work, and oversee its publication. The book before you, Raptor Research and Management Techniques, is the result of these efforts.

When we as editors took on this task, our aims and objectives were to produce a comprehensive work that reflected the state of the art in raptor research and management techniques, and to increase the geographic scope of the book beyond North America. We also wanted to produce a high-quality, attractive, and reasonably priced book that would be used globally by raptor researchers and conservationists and natural-resource managers. Unlike its predecessor, Raptor Research and Management Techniques is a bound work that is loosely modeled after the highly acclaimed Bird Census Techniques, second edition (2000) by Colin Bibby, Neil Burgess, David Hill, and Simon Mustoe. Raptor Research and Management Techniques is not intended to be an all-inclusive manual or detailed “how-to” book, but rather a review of the field with up-to-date information on various techniques that is designed to provide readers with a general overview of the field. That said, each chapter has numerous references that will direct readers to additional sources for details and cautions regarding various field and laboratory techniques and management tools.

The first four chapters, one each on the raptor literature, raptor systematics, raptor identification, and study design, data analysis, and the presentation of results, provide a general overview of the field of raptor research. The next ten chapters provide insights into field-study techniques, including surveying and monitoring, behavioral studies, diet analysis, habitat sampling, accessing nests and assessing nest success, capture and marking techniques, and spatial tracking. Four additional chapters provide information on the energetics, physiology, pathology, and toxicology of raptors; five more cover reducing management and researcher disturbance, mitigation, captive breeding, the augmentation of wild populations, and rehabilitation. The work concludes with chapters on public education and legal considerations. Although the book focuses on questions of importance to management and conservation, the scientific approach laid out at the beginning of the work, and the field and laboratory study techniques described thereafter, provide researchers with important tools for better understanding the basic biology of the birds as well.

We use the recommended English names of birds (Gill and Wright 2006, Birds of the World: recommended English names. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA) throughout, together with their binomials (at first mention) in each chapter. Appendix 1 provides an alphabetical list of the recommended English names of all diurnal raptors and other birds mentioned in the text, together with their binomials.

We view the publication of Raptor Research and Management Techniques as a way to enhance standardization in the field, and in so doing, increase our ability to compare our findings with those of others. We also view the book as a way to share both past successes and failures, and to speed improvement in our research and management techniques. Overall, we hope that like its predecessor, Raptor Research and Management Techniques will stand the test of time and help those who study and manage birds of prey protect them better.

--DAVID M. BIRD and KEITH L. BILDSTEIN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Raptor Literature
2. Raptor Identification, Ageing, and Sexing
3. Systematics
4. Study Design, Data Management, Analysis, and Presentation
5. Survey Techniques
6. Migration Counts and Monitoring
7. Behavioral Studies
8. Food Habits
9. Habitat Sampling
10. Accessing Nests
11. Assessing Nesting Success and Productivity
12. Capture Techniques
13. Marking Techniques
14. Spatial Tracking
     A. Radio Tracking
     B. Satellite Tracking
     C. Stable Isotopes and Trace Elements
15. Energetics
16. Physiology
     A. Gastrointestinal
     B. Hematological
     C. Reproductive
17. Pathology
     A. Disease
     B. Ectoparasites
     C. Endoparasites
18. Toxicology
19. Reducing Management and Research Disturbance
20. Mitigation
21. Captive Breeding
22. Augmenting Wild Populations and Food Resources
23. Rehabilitation
24. Public Education
25. Legal Considerations
Appendix
Index

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

DAVID M. BIRD is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on birds of prey. David has served as President (and Vice-President twice) of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc. (RRF), participated on numerous committees and organized several RRF symposia, three of which had published proceedings. He was also one of the editors on the original 1987 edition of this book. He has written and co-edited seven books, including City Critters: How to Live with Urban Wildlife, Bird’s Eye-View: A Practical Compendium for Bird-Lovers, and The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Facts and Figures on the World’s Birds He is also a regular columnist on birds for The Gazette of Montreal and Bird Watcher’s Digest magazine. Throughout his career, David’s achievements have been recognized by various awards for wildlife conservation, the latest being the Quebec Education Award in 2007, the first ever given by Bird Protection Quebec.

KEITH L. BILDSTEIN is Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania, where he oversees the Sanctuary’s conservation science and education programs, and coordinates the activities of its graduate students, international interns, and visiting scientists. Bildstein has authored or coauthored more than 100 papers in ecology and conservation, including 40 on raptors. His books include White Ibis: wetland wanderer (1993), The raptor migration watch-site manual (1995 [with Jorje Zalles]), Raptor watch: a global directory of raptor migration sites (2000 [with Jorje Zalles]), and Migrating raptors of the world: their ecology and conservation (2006). His co-edited works include Conservation Biology of Flamingos (2000), Hawkwatching in the Americas (2001), and Neotropical Raptors (2007). Keith’s current research involves the geography, ecology, and conservation of the world’s migratory raptors; energy management in migrating raptors; the feeding and movement ecology of New and Old World vultures; and the wintering, breeding, and movement ecology of American Kestrels.

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