Nico Arcilla

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Fellow at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Protected areas are crucial for the conservation of West Africa’s increasingly imperiled wildlife, but are under unprecedented pressure associated with exponential human population growth in the region. Using birds as biodiversity indicators, we investigated the conservation status of Togo’s Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, which was managed by a pr...

Western Amazonia hosts the highest bird diversity in the world, yet in many regional indigenous territories, biodiversity remains poorly known to science. Between 2004 and 2020, we conducted research with members of 10 indigenous Aguaruna communities in four regions of the northern Peruvian Amazon, recording a total of 427 bird species, including e...

As tropical forests are frequently impacted by human disturbance, forests in various stages of disturbance recovery are increasingly important for maintaining biodiversity. However, much remains unclear regarding the impacts of prior disturbance intensity on wildlife in regenerating forests. Here, we used mist net capture data to compare bird commu...

Nature conservation and sustainable development goals are challenged by powerful economic incentives to exploit natural resources, particularly in many tropical countries. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) projects have been encouraged worldwide for over 40 years to improve the sustainability of nature-based livelihoods and facili...

Bird–forestry relationships have been the subject of research and conservation initiatives for decades, but there are few reviews of resulting recommendations for use by forest managers. We define “bird-friendly forestry” as forest management that applies recommendations from research seeking to reconcile logging with bird conservation in natural f...

How do tropical forest birds respond to forest regeneration after logging and clearance for agriculture? We investigated this question in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, Peru, which has been the focus of conservation efforts following the discovery of a number of bird species that appear to be restricted to its rare white-sand forests. We...

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) projects can play important supporting roles in conservation, such as through raising conservation awareness and providing buffers to protected areas, but they are limited by design. CBNRM relies strongly on external support, such as effective law enforcement and ongoing investments, to succeed. S...

Megapodes (Galliformes: Megapodiidae) are a family of birds found throughout Australasia and the Indo-Pacific. They have long been the focus of scientific interest because of their unique incubation strategies and life histories; eggs are incubated using environmental heat sources, and chicks hatch independent of parents and conspecifics. However,...

Unsustainable hunting to supply wildlife markets is a global threat to bird species and a key driver of biodiversity declines across Africa. Despite well-documented negative impacts of wildlife trade on many bird species, such as Asian hornbills and African vultures, its consequences for African hornbills remain poorly understood. Here, we use data...

Ten principles for bird-friendly forestry

Protected lands provide a last stand for critically endangered vultures in West Africa

The songbird trade crisis in East and South East Asia has been fuelled by high demand, driving many species to the brink of extinction. This demand, driven by the desire for songbirds as pets, for singing competitions and for prayer animal release has led to the overexploitation of numerous species and the introduction and spread of invasive alien...

Vultures are among the most threatened species in Africa, with several critically endangered species surviving mainly or only in protected areas. West African vulture declines are correlated with steep losses of natural habitat and mammalian wildlife. Major factors driving vulture extirpations include wildlife trade for traditional medicine, belief...

The Arabian Partridge (Alectoris melanocephala), is an endemic bird species of the Arabian Desert that lives in groups and inhabits rocky hillsides with patchy vegetation. Throughout their range, Arabian Partridges contend with hunting and habitat destruction, factors that may limit their distribution and abundance. Although the abundance of this s...

Among the most rapidly declining birds in continental North America, grassland birds evolved with American bison (Bison bison) until bison nearly became extinct due to overhunting. Bison populations have subsequently rebounded due to reintroductions on conservation lands, but the impacts of bison on grassland nesting birds remain largely unknown. W...

Birds in agricultural environments have exhibited steep global population declines in recent decades, and effective conservation strategies targeting their populations are urgently needed. In grasslands used for hay production, breeding birds’ nest success improves substantially if hay harvests are delayed until after mid-July. However, few studies...

Montane desert birds are particularly vulnerable to population declines driven by global climate change that is accelerated at higher elevations. Providing reliable and accurate information about their populations is essential for effective conservation management plans. However, few studies have compared the effectiveness of different survey metho...

Few empirical studies have quantified relationships between changing weather and migratory songbirds, but such studies are vital in a time of rapid climate change. Climate change has critical consequences for avian breeding ecology, geographic ranges, and migration phenology. Changing precipitation and temperature patterns affect habitat, food reso...

Identifying migratory raptors' wintering areas and migration routes is an essential part of predicting their responses to habitat and climate change throughout their annual cycles, and therefore important for their conservation. Among the world's most widespread migratory species, the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) has been the subject of inte...

Identifying migratory raptors' wintering areas and migration routes is an essential part of predicting their responses to habitat and climate change throughout their annual cycles, and therefore important for their conservation. Among the world's most widespread migratory species, the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) has been the subject of inte...

Anthropogenic climate change and habitat loss pose major threats to grassland breeding birds, the most rapidly declining group of birds in continental North America. Although previous studies have investigated grassland breeding bird responses to land management, few empirical studies explore their responses to climatic variation or its interaction...

Over 80% of the Mid-Continent Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) Population (MCP), estimated at over 660,000 individuals, stops in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) during spring migration from mid-February through mid-April. Research suggests that the MCP may be shifting its distribution spatially and temporally within the CPRV. From 2002 t...

Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) is a migratory shorebird that relies on interior wetlands for foraging and breeding. Its global population status is unclear, and is variously listed as declining, increasing, and exhibiting a long-term decline but recent stability. Their historic breeding range has contracted due to the conversion of native...

Social organization as a topic has wide application often conserved across lineages and can lead to complex cultures, yet it is still not well understood in many taxa. We observed American bison (Bison bison) to investigate the interactions of hierarchy and behavior to elucidate patterns of social organization. Bison are highly visible animals that...

Shifts in the chronology and distribution of Sandhill Cranes in the Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska, from 2002 to 2017 detected via weekly aerial surveys conducted from mid-February to mid-March. We also explore potential factors influencing these trends.

We detected 9 adult male Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) actively lekking on 30 January of 2015 and monitored the lek once per week to determine if lekking behavior would continue uninterrupted through the typical lekking season from early March through late May. We documented lekking behavior, male and female lek attendance,...

Tropical forests are on the front lines of the current global extinction crisis. Species with restricted habitat requirements and slow reproductive rates, such as the spectacular hornbills (Bucerotidae) of the Paleotropics, are particularly vulnerable. We present the first long-term quantitative population assessment of nine forest hornbill species...

Swains Island is an uninhabited 210 ha former copra plantation 360 km North of American Samoa. The island, dominated with coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), was last surveyed in 1976. The goal of this 17-26 September 2012 survey was to identify the bird species present, and document relative abundance, distribution, and breeding activity across the isl...

We examined 135 specimens and analyzed 1,735 captures of indigenous American Samoan landbirds, of nine target species in seven families, to document molt patterns, assess the extent of molt-breeding overlap, and present criteria to determine age. Preformative molts varied from absent to complete, and there was no confirmed evidence for prealternate...

Anthropogenic global climate change is correlated with increasing evidence of rapidly shifting avian migration phenology. Many spring migrants are arriving earlier on their breeding grounds, while the trend in autumn departures is less uniform, with both early and delayed departures reported. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of these ch...

Nowhere are the negative impacts of invasive species, such as ecosystem modification, predation, parasitism, and disease, more apparent than in the Pacific islands, where human contact triggered a massive avian extinction event that is still ongoing. Island bird species are inherently vulnerable to extinction due to their small, isolated population...

We provide an inventory of the avifauna of the Pongos Basin, northern Amazonas Department, Peru based on museum specimens collected during expeditions spanning 60 years within the 20th century. Four hundred and thirty-eight species representing 52 families are reported. Differences between lowland and higher elevation avifaunas were apparent. Speci...

Between July 2003 and March 2005 we conducted field research on birds in the Cordillera de Colán in collaboration with two indigenous Aguaruna-Jívaro communities in an area previously unex-plored by ornithologists, using field surveys, mist net sampling, and interviews with local residents. We detected 315 bird species, including the globally threa...