Woodcock Watch collaborative effort based out of Rutgers University-Newark. The following projects are currently underway:
Evening Courtship Surveys & Banding
- Annually conducted by 10-15 volunteers who are trained by Kathleen each year in woodcock monitoring and mist net operations. Volunteers often come from the Raptor Trust, Liberty Science Center, Turtleback Zoo, and other associations throughout the state.
- 2016 Team: Omar Abukwaik, Barbara Gilbert, Claus Holzapfel, Rita Matos, Frank Pallone, Hadas Parag, Mirko Schoenitz, AJ Schuster, Amanda Schuster, and Tara Snyder.
- 2017 Team: Zain Abidin Omar Abukwaik, Barbara Gilbert, Claus Holzapfel, Amanda Hayes, Lori LaBorde, Connor McGuire, Rita Matos, Hadas Parag, Carolyn Rubinfeld, Mirko Schoenitz, AJ Schuster, Amanda Schuster, and Bethany Spiegel
- 2018 Team: Katherine Fenyar, Claus Holzapfel*, Brian Katz, Lauren Morse, Lori LaBorde, Nikki Nobles, Hadas Parag, Kelly Peng, Mirko Schoenitz*, Amanda Schuster*, Rachael Sitzer, David Walker, and Grace Wilson.* Denotes Team Lead/Banders
Food Sampling:
- As a collaboration with Dr. Nick Hensue at aUniversity of Buffalo, we collect across sites bimonthly to monitor food abundance during between spring and fall migrations.
- Team: Nick Henshue, Zain Abidin Omar Abukwaik, Rita Matos
Predator Community Detection
- The presence of predators changes prey behavior. We monitor the presence of mammalian (via camera trapping) and avian predators (nocturnal point counts) year round.
- Camera Trapping: Rita Matos
- Nocturnal Point Counts: Barbara Gilbert, Mirko Schoenitz, and Amanda Schuster
Predicting Woodcock on Degraded Habitats
- A second collaborative effort between Rutgers University and University of Buffalo, three undergrads are developing models of habitat usage for woodcock in Northern New Jersey which incorporate degradation into their models to assess model performance.
- Team: Nick Henshue, Tiffany Green, Maggie LeClair, and Jacob Leale
Woodcock Watch NJ 