Ann E. McKellar

Ann E. McKellar
Government of Canada · Environment Canada

Doctor of Philosophy

About

65
Publications
12,426
Reads
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743
Citations
Introduction
I am a Research Scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, specializing in the conservation of migratory birds in prairie ecosystems. I am also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Some of my current projects include tracking migratory birds throughout their full annual cycle using different technologies (Motus, geolocators, stable isotopes) and testing the use of drones to monitor waterbird populations.
Additional affiliations
October 2021 - October 2021
Government of Canada
Position
  • Researcher
March 2016 - present
University of Saskatchewan
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
November 2013 - October 2021
Government of Canada
Position
  • Researcher
Education
September 2008 - September 2012
Queen's University
Field of study
  • Biology
September 2006 - August 2008
McGill University
Field of study
  • Biology
September 2002 - May 2006
Queen's University
Field of study
  • Biology

Publications

Publications (65)
Article
Full-text available
We investigated the influence of conspecific and heterospecific neighbours on the reproductive success of mountain bluebirds ( Sialia currucoides ) and tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ) over eight breeding seasons. The abundance of heterospecific neighbours was negatively associated with reproductive success in mountain bluebirds but positively...
Article
Full-text available
Management regimes on publicly owned freshwater wetlands in the Mississippi Flyway of North America (i.e., Flyway) have historically emphasized waterfowl, but there is limited information on how waterfowl‐focused wetland management affects other wetland‐dependent wildlife. Secretive marsh birds (SMBs) depend on wetlands with emergent vegetation thr...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Saline lake habitat is threatened worldwide by water diversion and climate change, so there is an urgent need to better understand the populations trends and habitat use of phalaropes, as well as flexibility of staging site selection. We conducted coordinated monitoring of western North American staging areas of importance to phalaropes: Great Salt...
Article
Full-text available
Spatial and temporal shifts in the migratory patterns of birds have become more frequent as climate change and habitat alteration continue to impact ecosystems and the species dependent on them. In this study, we used eBird community science data collected over ten years to examine potential changes in the migratory patterns of three North American...
Article
Understanding population mixing, movements, and connectivity of populations is an important first step towards effective conservation, particularly for long distance migrants that are suffering the greatest population declines, as this allows researchers to recognize how populations may face different risks throughout the annual cycle. We combined...
Article
Full-text available
Advances in artificial intelligence for computer vision hold great promise for increasing the scales at which ecological systems can be studied. The distribution and behavior of individuals is central to ecology, and computer vision using deep neural networks can learn to detect individual objects in imagery. However, developing supervised models f...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change has generated earlier springs, later falls, and different weather patterns. These changes may prove challenging to migratory species if they are unable to adjust their migratory timing. We analyzed changes in migratory timing of Vaux’s Swifts (Chaetura vauxi (J.K. Townsend, 1839)) by examining first arrivals (date the first swift arr...
Technical Report
Full-text available
To investigate phalarope population trends and conservation status, we conducted coordinated monitoring of western North American staging areas of historical importance to phalaropes: Great Salt Lake (Utah), Mono Lake (California), Lake Abert (Oregon), Owens Lake (California), south San Francisco Bay (California), and Chaplin Lake (Saskatchewan).
Preprint
Full-text available
Advances in artificial intelligence for image processing hold great promise for increasing the scales at which ecological systems can be studied. The distribution and behavior of individuals is central to ecology, and computer vision using deep neural networks can learn to detect individual objects in imagery. However, developing computer vision fo...
Article
Full-text available
Secretive marsh birds, including rails and bitterns, have experienced widespread population declines due to the loss of wetland habitat on which they depend. Because of their cryptic behavior, secretive marsh birds are challenging to study and information on their habitat requirements is limited, especially across the full annual cycle. Quantifying...
Article
Full-text available
Management of colonial waterbirds at regional, national, and continental scales requires up-to-date monitoring information on breeding locations, population sizes, and trends. The large lakes of southern Manitoba, Canada (Winnipeg, Winnipegosis, and Manitoba), and the inter-lake region host nationally and continentally significant populations of co...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Given saline lake habitat is threatened worldwide by water diversion and climate change, there is an urgent need to better understand phalarope population and trends. We conducted coordinated monitoring of western North American staging areas of historical importance to phalaropes: Great Salt Lake (Utah), Mono Lake (California), Lake Abert (Oregon)...
Article
Artificial nest boxes provide an important resource for secondary cavity-nesting passerines, whose populations may be limited by the availability of nesting sites. However, previous studies have demonstrated that the design and placement of boxes may affect the reproductive success of the birds that use them. In this study, we asked whether the hab...
Data
Four Eared Grebe nests (orange dots) from (A) visible imagery and (B) thermal imagery obtained from a drone flying at a height of 45 m at Jackfish Lake West. A Franklin's Gull nest can also be seen in the center
Data
Disturbance observations from drone flights over eight marshbird colonies in June 2019 in Saskatchewan
Data
Three Franklin's Gull nests (blue dots) from (A) visible imagery and (B) thermal‐infrared imagery obtained from a drone flying at an altitude of 120 m at Foam Lake North
Article
Full-text available
Waterbirds are important indicators of wetland health, and understanding their status and trends is necessary for appropriate management and conservation. However, certain species are challenging to survey due to their sensitivity to disturbance and the difficulty of accessing their breeding habitats. This is especially true for colonially breeding...
Article
Full-text available
The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) is an international conservation initiative designed to protect the key habitats and resources used by shorebirds throughout their ranges. WHSRN is based on a simple yet powerful concept: many species of shorebirds depend on a chain of critically important sites to complete their annual cycle...
Article
Waterbird species face numerous threats and many are declining globally, but knowledge of distribution, abundance, and trend remains poor for many species. Five species of marsh-nesting colonial waterbirds are poorly monitored in Canada, and especially so in the core of their range in the Canadian Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manit...
Article
Full-text available
Prioritizing taxa for conservation action is a critical step in assessing management needs for migratory birds. Recent evidence suggests that many shorebird species are experiencing population declines. Shorebirds breed, migrate, and spend the non-breeding season across large areas, exposing them to a variety of natural and human-induced threats. I...
Article
High quality staging sites are critical for long distance migratory shorebirds to rest and refuel but are under threat from human development, including expansion in wind energy projects. However, predicting migration timing and movements in relation to weather conditions at staging sites can increase our understanding and mitigate effects of wind...
Article
Populations of Vaux’s Swift (Chaetura vauxi), like those of many aerial insectivores, are rapidly declining. Determining when and where populations are limited across the annual cycle is important for their conservation. Establishing the linkages between wintering and breeding sites and the strength of the connections between them is a necessary fi...
Article
Full-text available
The US Endangered Species Act has enabled species conservation but has differentially impacted fire management and rare bird conservation in the southern and western US. In the South, prescribed fire and restoration‐based forest thinning are commonly used to conserve the endangered red‐cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis; RCW), whereas in the We...
Article
Full-text available
Long-distance migrants are assumed to be more time-limited during the pre-breeding season compared to the post-breeding season. Although breeding-related time constraints may be absent post-breeding, additional factors such as predation risk could lead to time constraints that were previously underestimated. By using an automated radio telemetry sy...
Article
Staging, an essential part of shorebird migration, is when birds concentrate in large numbers to rest and refuel. Abundance estimates at key staging sites offer promise to monitor many transient migrant populations; however, stopover chronology is needed. Point counts were conducted of all shorebirds staging at Chaplin and Reed Lakes, Saskatchewan,...
Article
Full-text available
The vast majority of bird species are socially monogamous; however, extra-pair paternity is nearly ubiquitous and a number of theories have been proposed to explain the prevalence of this mixed mating strategy. Here, we test the genetic compatibility hypothesis – the idea that females seek extra-pair copulations with males whose genes are more comp...
Article
Both weather and parental care can influence avian reproductive success, yet few studies have investigated these 2 factors simultaneously. Examining these factors under a common framework is informative because they may interact to influence overall productivity; for example, weather could directly influence nestling survival or could act indirectl...
Article
Full-text available
Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) breeding at inland lakes in North America have experienced significant population declines since the 1960s. Although management actions aimed at mitigating effects of habitat loss and predation have been largely effective, numbers continue to decline, which suggests that the population may be limited during the nonbree...
Article
Full-text available
The spatial structure of populations determines the relative importance of reproduction, survival and movement on population dynamics. However, the mechanisms by which local individuals and immigrants interact and the subsequent effects of immigrants on productivity are poorly known. We developed an integrated population model (IPM) to study the ex...
Article
Many songbirds are under increasing pressure owing to habitat loss, land-use changes, and rapidly changing climatic conditions. Using citizen science data collected from 1980 to 2014, we asked how local weather and regional climate influenced the breeding dynamics of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides (Bechstein, 1798)) and Tree Swallows (Tachy...
Article
Full-text available
Complete panmixia across the entire range of a species is a relatively rare phenomenon; however, this pattern may be found in species that have limited philopatry and frequent dispersal. American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhyncos) provide a unique opportunity to examine the role of long-distance dispersal in facilitating gene flow in a speci...
Data
Cross-validation results. Results of a cross-validation resampling simulation from samples of known origin. Feathers were assigned to the site with the highest number of assignments out of the 10,000 simulations. During each simulation, samples were assigned to the site with the highest probability of origin. (DOCX)
Data
Sampling locations. Descriptive information for all sampling locations, including regional grouping, location information, sample size, and descriptive statistics for each isotope measured. (DOCX)
Article
Full-text available
Long-distance migratory shorebirds are vulnerable to stressors throughout their annual cycle, including during migration when they must rely on a limited set of stopover sites to refuel. The rufa subspecies of Red Knot Calidris canutus has shown drastic population declines in recent decades and is listed as Endangered in Canada and Threatened in th...
Article
Full-text available
Assessing the drivers of survival across the annual cycle is important for understanding when and how population limitation occurs in migratory animals. Density-dependent population regulation can occur during breeding and nonbreeding periods, and large-scale climate cycles can also affect survival throughout the annual cycle via their effects on l...
Article
Full-text available
The strength of migratory connectivity between breeding, stopover, and wintering areas can have important implications for population dynamics, evolutionary processes, and conservation. For example, patterns of migratory connectivity may influence the vulnerability of species and populations to stochastic events. For many migratory songbirds, howev...
Article
Conservation practitioners frequently have limited information on the structure and function of the ecosystems they wish to preserve, and as a result, they may use shortcuts to guide conservation actions. One such shortcut is the umbrella species approach, whereby conservation actions are geared toward one or a few key species, with the assumption...
Article
Plumage colouration serves a variety of functions for birds, including conspecific signalling, crypsis, and predator-prey interactions. Though much research has been conducted on colour changes in species with delayed plumage maturation, where birds do not exhibit definitive adult plumage until their second breeding season or later, relatively few...
Article
Carotenoid-based colouration plays an important role in sexual signaling in animals as an honest indicator of individual quality during mate choice and competitive interactions. However, few studies have examined how natural variation in weather conditions influences inter-annual variation in the expression of ornamentation, potentially through aff...
Article
Sexual selection and mate choice are dynamic processes that can be influenced by a variety of environmental and social factors, which have been well studied in a range of taxa. However, in humans, the environmental factors that influence regional variation in preference for mate attributes remain poorly understood. In addition, underlying variation...
Article
Models are important tools for conservation, but the usefulness of any given model for decision-making depends on its accuracy and precision. Few models designed for conservation purposes are validated with real-world data, and such models are even less likely to be revisited and improved with post-implementation results. We test the performance of...
Article
Full-text available
The density dependence of demographic parameters and its implications for population regulation have long been recognized. Recent work has revealed potential effects of density on mating systems and sexual selection, but few studies concurrently assess the consequences of density on both demography and sexual selection. Such an approach is importan...
Article
Full-text available
Movement has important consequences for individual and population-level processes, but methods are only starting to become available for quantifying fine-scale movement paths of smaller animals. New techniques for inferring behavioral states and their relation to social and environmental factors provide a powerful way to test the influence of such...
Article
Birds that arrive and breed early often have higher reproductive success than late individuals, either as a consequence of timing‐specific advantages (the timing hypothesis) or because these individuals and/or their resources are of higher quality (the quality hypothesis). In this study, we examined the potential influence of several factors affect...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change is affecting behaviour and phenology in many animals. In migratory birds, weather patterns both at breeding and at non-breeding sites can influence the timing of spring migration and breeding. However, variation in responses to weather across a species range has rarely been studied, particularly among popula- tions that may winter in...
Article
The potential causes of adult sex ratio variation in guppies Poecilia reticulata were tested in laboratory experiments that evaluated the mortality rates of male and female P. reticulata exposed to potential predators (Hart's rivulus Rivulus hartii and freshwater prawns Macrobrachium crenulatum) and to different resource levels. Poecilia reticulata...
Article
Full-text available
Interspecific nest reuse is uncommon in open-cup nesting birds, but has been reported several times in the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Individuals might reuse nests if appropriate nesting sites are limited or in order to conserve time and energy. Here I describe an instance of nest reuse by a female American Redstart of a Red-Eyed Vire...
Article
Full-text available
Questions: Do evolutionary changes in the levels of phenotypic plasticity occur after anthropogenic disturbance? Do these changes tend to be increases or decreases in plasticity? How do these evolutionary patterns differ among taxa and trait types? Does plasticity evolution change with time since the disturbance? Data incorporated: Evolutionary rat...
Data
List of all studies used to obtain CVs for male and/or female height and/or mass for human populations. Also included is the country of origin, name of specific population or survey title, year of sampling (if provided), indigenous/aboriginal status (as defined in each study), and development status (http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.ht...
Data
List of all studies, species, and taxa (amphibian, bird, fish, invertebrate, mammal, or reptile) used to obtain coefficients of variation (CV) for male and/or female length and/or mass for animal populations. (0.25 MB DOC)
Data
Bergmann's rule in humans. Mean male height (A, R2 = 0.126, P<0.001), female height (B, R2 = 0.097, P = 0.002), male mass (C, R2 = 0.183, P<0.001), and female mass (D, R2 = 0.155, P<0.001) all increase significantly with absolute latitude. Latitude of each population was approximated using the geographic centre of the country from which the populat...
Data
Species-mean CVs for among- versus within-population body mass. Shown are regression lines (solid), x = y lines (dashed), and data for males (A, R2 = 0.26, P<0.001) and females (B, R2 = 0.37, P<0.001). (1.72 MB DOC)
Data
Percentiles for mean within- and among-population male and female human height and mass in relation to species-mean amphibian, invertebrate, mammal, and reptile length and mass distributions. Percentiles are not shown for taxa distributions with n<5 animal species. (0.03 MB DOC)
Data
Distributions of coefficients of variation (CV) for within-population body mass. Shown are species means for animals (black) and population means for humans (grey) for males (A) and females (B). Arrows indicate the locations of CVs for mean human mass. (1.80 MB TIF)
Data
Distributions of CVs for among-population body length or height. Shown are data for males (A) and females (B). Arrows indicate the locations of CVs for mean human height. (1.72 MB TIF)
Article
Full-text available
Sex ratios can influence mating behaviour, population dynamics and evolutionary trajectories; yet the causes of natural sex ratio variation are often uncertain. Although secondary (birth) sex ratios in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are typically 1:1, we recorded female-biased tertiary (adult) sex ratios in about half of our 48 samples and male-bias...
Article
Full-text available
Animal species come in many shapes and sizes, as do the individuals and populations that make up each species. To us, humans might seem to show particularly high levels of morphological variation, but perhaps this perception is simply based on enhanced recognition of individual conspecifics relative to individual heterospecifics. We here more objec...
Article
Adult sex ratio is an important demographic characteristic that can affect population dynamics and behavioural processes, yet the causes of natural sex ratio variation are often uncertain. In the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), considerable variation in adult sex ratio has been documented, despite 1:1 sex ratios at birth. Sex-biased mortal...

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