I B I S

Highlights from the latest issue

2010-04-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

The January 2012 issue which is free to view online is packed with interest, with 15 full papers and eight Short Communications.

The featured article this issue is an analysis of the effects on nest survival rates of visits by researchers. Many field ornithologists will at one time or another have located and revisited nests in order to assess their survival rates, one of the key demographics of breeding birds. Most will have wondered what effects their visits might have had on the results they obtained - did their activities lead predators to nests, or cause the parents to desert? This is not only a moral consideration, but also a scientific one since, as James Reynolds and Steve Schoech discuss in their accompanying Commentary article, if our activities influence the values we are seeking to measure, we may be drawing the wrong conclusions from our results. Thankfully, the careful meta-analysis published in this issue of Ibis suggests that in most cases there is no detectable influence of visiting nests, although the authors detected some evidence that if there is an effect, it is likely to be in the opposite direction to what we might expect - in some cases, visiting nests appeared actually to improve nest survival rates.

Another paper in this issue examines the role of the red breast of the European Robin, a particularly timely paper for those of us in the UK given the appearance of this species on many of our Christmas cards! Careful examination of reflectance signatures has shown that the grey feathers surrounding the red breast act as a "picture frame", increasing the impact of the red plumage.

Other papers in the issue describe the extraordinary marine migration of Sabine's Gull, assess why night-time foraging might cause Nazca Boobies to suffer foot damage, and assess how climate change might be impacting on Gentoo Penguins.

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Dr Rauri C.K. Bowie - Editor

2009-10-08T03:45:00.000-07:00

Rauri Bowie’s PhD focused on the historical biogeography of African montane birds and was awarded from the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 2003. He then completed a postdoc at the Field Museum in Chicago working on the ‘Early Bird’ Avian Tree of Life Project; the results of which were published in the June 08 issue of Science. In 2006, after a 2.5-year stint as a lecturer at Stellenbosch University, Rauri moved to the University of California-Berkeley where he is presently the faculty curator of birds in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology. Rauri has a wide range of research interests that include historical biogeography, disease ecology and the determination of speciation processes in birds, with a particular emphasis on African taxa. Rauri maintains an active field program having conducted fieldwork over the last five years in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, California and Guatemala. He has written over seventy scientific papers on the evolutionary biology of birds and has served as an Editor of Ibis since 2006.

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Dr Ruedi Nager - Editor

2009-09-14T04:55:00.001-07:00

Ruedi Nager obtained a PhD on the breeding strategies of Great Tits from the University of Basel (Switzerland). He then spent one year at the University of Groningen studying incubation behaviour of Starlings, followed by two years in the South of France studying physiological adaptations of blue tits to breeding in the Mediterranean (CNRS Montpellier) and demographic aspects of the Greater Flamingo (Tour du Valat, Camargue). In 1996, Ruedi joined the University of Glasgow first as a post-doctoral research assistant working on the cost of egg production in the Lesser Black-backed Gull and then appointed a lecturer in 1999. Ruedi’s main research interests are the causes and consequences of variation in early developmental conditions on the offspring later in life. He is also interested in the conflicts between the parents and between the offspring in avian families. Lately he has resumed his studies on breeding strategies of Tits. Ruedi joined the Ibis Editorial team in 2009.

Email Ruedi.

Prof. Jeremy Wilson - Editor

2009-07-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Wilson obtained a PhD on social behaviour of Great Tits from the University of Edinburgh in 1989. After two further years at Edinburgh working on the dispersal of Dippers as a Royal 1851 Commission Research Fellow, he spent the next ten years working on many aspects of relationships between agriculture and bird populations at the British Trust for Ornithology, the University of Oxford and, since 1996, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In 2001, Jeremy became Head of Research for RSPB Scotland, and now leads a research team with interests in bird conservation issues across the uplands, lowland agricultural systems, forestry and native woodlands, and the marine environment. He has published over 80 scientific papers, plus numerous contributions to conference proceedings, books and research reports. He has been an Ibis Editor since 2006, and has held an Honorary Chair in Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling since 2009.

Email Jeremy.

About the BOU

2009-07-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

The British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU), founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton FRS, is one of the world’s oldest ornithological bodies.

BOU - 1858~2008 - 150 years supporting ornithology
The BOU’s aim is to promote ornithology and a better understanding of ornithology, birds and related issues, within the scientific and birdwatching communities.

Central to achieving our aims is the quarterly publication of our international journal - Ibis. Established in 1859, Ibis - the world’s leading ornithological journal and publishes work at the cutting edge of our understanding of the world’s birdlife, be it behaviour, population dynamics, systematics, breeding biology, taxonomy, habitat use or conservation. Ibis is available in print and online (see above Ibis links on the left).

To further help achieve our aims, the BOU organises regular meetings, seminars and conferences at which ornithologists and others can discuss and learn more about work being undertaken around the world and topical ornithological issues. The BOU has been organising conferences and meetings for over 100 years, and they provide an opportunity for people, from widely differing professional backgrounds, to explore and relate to a discrete scientific theme of common interest. Recent topics have included Lowland Farmland Birds (in 1999 with follow up conference being held in March 2004), Long-term Studies of Birds, Renewable energy and birds, and Birds & Public Health. Such meetings help to promote understanding of environmental issues and the sharing of knowledge. The presentation of contentious academic theories to critical public debate and the defence of such ideas lie at the heart of healthy science.

The BOU is a registered charity, no. 249877.

IBIS - 150 years of ornithological publishing

2009-07-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ibis publishes original papers, reviews and short communications reflecting the forefront of research activity in ornithological science, but with special emphasis on the conservation, ecology, ethology and systematics of birds.

Ibis aims to publish as rapidly as is consistent with the requirements of peer-review and normal publishing constraints.

150 years - all online!
Ibis has been published continuously since 1859 and all articles are now online and available to subscribing individuals and institutes.

Not a subscriber?
Individuals - click here
Institutes - click here

Book Reviews

2009-07-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ibis has a long tradition of publishing reviews of books and other publications from the ornithological community. Ibis book reviews are recognised throughout the ornithological world as expert and accurate.

Submitting books for review
Please send two copies of your title to:
Mike Wilson
Ibis Book Reviews Editor
EGI Library
Dept. of Zoology
South Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
Email Mike Wilson

View published book reviews
Book reviews are published quarterly in each issue of Ibis. To view, go to the Ibis contents page and select an issue. Book reviews are towards the bottom of each issue's contents page.

Dr Paul Donald - Editor-in-Chief

2009-07-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

Paul started his research career at the British Trust for Ornithology, working on a wide range of issues relating mostly to the relationship between farmland and woodland birds and their changing environments. He left the BTO for the RSPB in 1995 and ran a 4-year research project on Skylarks, gaining a DPhil from the Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, in the process. More recently, Paul has been involved in a wide range of research projects in the RSPB's International Research Team. This includes detailed ecological research on some of the world's rarest and most endangered species and work on wider issues such as climate change, international agricultural issues, remote sensing and monitoring and biogeography. Particular research interests are the implications of variable adult sex ratios for bird conservation, the ecology and conservation of threatened larks (Alaudidae) and the effects of international policies on bird populations. Paul has written nearly fifty scientific papers, as well as numerous book chapters, conference proceedings, books and scientific reports. Paul was appoined as an Editor of Ibis in 2006 and took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2009. Paul is also an elected member of BOU Council and Chairman of the BOU's Grants Committee.

Email Paul.

Dr Dan Chamberlain - Editor

2009-07-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

Dan is currently a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Turin, Italy. Since obtaining a DPhil on Blackbird ecology at the Edward Grey Institute, Oxford, Dan spent fifteen years working for the British Trust for Ornithology, most recently as the Principal Ecologist for Climate Change and head of Population Ecology and Modelling, managing projects on spatial modelling, demography and climate change. Over 17 years’ post-doctoral research experience has produced a large body of work on the ecology of birds in highly modified habitats, specifically farmland and urban areas. Much of this research has concerned impacts of farming practices, including identification of historical drivers of bird population change, impacts of specific farm management practices (e.g. organic farming, GM cropping) and monitoring the impacts of agri-environment schemes. He has also conducted research into the urban environment, in particular, the relative importance of habitat versus food supply (especially that provided by man) in influencing the urban bird community. His current research is focussed on impacts of environmental change, and in particular climate change, on biodiversity in alpine habitats, including studies on birds, carabid beetles and dung beetles. He has been an Ibis Editor since 2006.

Email Dan.

Wanted - Chief Editor

2009-02-25T01:51:00.000-08:00

The British Ornithologists’ Union is one of the world’s oldest and most respected ornithological organisations with an international membership stretching across all continents. In 2008, the BOU celebrated 150 years supporting ornithology. The BOU publishes Ibis, the international journal of avian science, four times per year and is seeking a Chief Editor to lead the editorial team.

Ibis is an international journal with a reputation for publishing high quality papers in avian science, covering a range of topics, including ecology, conservation, behaviour, palaeontology, taxonomy and new species. The current editorial team is made up of a Chief Editor and five Editors, and is supported by a Journal Manager (responsible for coordinating the journal’s peer review process) and an international Associate Editorial Board. Further details about the journal can be found on this site (see links above and left).

We are seeking a Chief Editor who will oversee the handling and publishing of papers in Ibis. The Chief Editor must be a highly motivated, decisive, outstanding communicator, and must act with the highest probity. They must have an excellent understanding of their own field of avian science, as well as of the wider discipline, and have experience of refereeing and the editing process, including dealing with electronic manuscript processing.

This is a part-time freelance position with a current annual remuneration of £4,740 inclusive of travel and other expenses. An appointment will be made with an agreed start date before July 2009.

Key responsibilities:

Work with the editorial team and Journal Manager to oversee manuscript processing from submission to publication
Pre-screen submitted manuscripts for suitability for the journal, make decisions based on editors’ recommendations, and overseeing manuscript revision and editing with the editors
Identify key established or emerging subject areas for the journal to focus on
Solicit the submission of high quality manuscripts in all areas relevant to the journal
Use opinion from fellow scientists/practitioners to drive changes in procedure, to develop initiatives and/or to feed into general discussions on journal strategy
Promote Ibis and the British Ornithologists’ Union when attending conferences
Work with senior BOU staff, appointed Council members and the publisher’s representative in the management of the journal
Work closely with the journal publisher’s staff to ensure the journal keeps to its publication schedule
Contribute to the journal’s strategic development plan and its annual appraisal
Attend annual meetings in the UK with the publishers (Wiley-Blackwell), the editorial team and BOU Council
Help to identify new associate editors

Selection Criteria:

Strong, current publication record
Knowledge and understanding of the subject area, complementary to that of the editorial team
Experience of refereeing (essential) and of editorial work (highly desirable)
A good understanding of electronic manuscript handling systems (Ibis uses Manuscript Central)
Ability to work independently and also as an editorial team member
Ability to manage the editorial team and Associate Editor Board
Ability to deal with authors efficiently, professionally and respectfully
Ability to think strategically and act decisively
Commitment to the post and to the goals of the BOU

Applications and informal enquiries: Applicants should send a CV, plus a letter stating what you have to offer Ibis and how you would develop the journal over the next five years to Steve Dudley, BOU Senior Administrator, steve.dudley@bou.org.uk. Informal enquiries should also be directed to Steve.

Closing date: 27 March 2009. Interviews will be held on 17 April.

Ibis enquiries

2009-01-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

For all Ibis journal enquiries, please contact -

Angela Langford / Journal and Office Manager
Email - angela @ bou.org.uk (remove spaces)
Tel - +44 (0) 7 876 437 370

BOU office
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION
PO Box 417
Peterborough
PE7 3FX UK
Tel/Fax +44 (0) 1 733 844 820

Websites
BOU home page
Ibis - the BOU's internatational journal of avian science
BOU Proceedings website