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Shiloh Schulte
Cooperative Research Unit
North Carolina State University
Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
Research Interests:
In May of 2000 I graduated from the School of Natural Resources at the University of Vermont with a BS in Wildlife Biology. My research interests lie in the areas of Avian Ecology and Conservation Biology. In pursuit of these interests I have worked on wildlife research projects in Alaska, Washington State, Colorado, Belize, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and most recently, North Carolina.
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I began working with American Oystercatchers (a shorebird species of conservation concern) while at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Massachusetts. Dr. Stephen Brown, Brian Harrington, and I conducted a comprehensive aerial survey of the wintering population of American Oystercatchers in the United States. Oystercatchers are large, striking shorebirds that roost in large flocks in the winter along the southeast coast. For the survey we flew nearly the entire coast of the US from the Delaware Bay to the Mexico Border in small, single engine Cessnas at 300-500 feet. In the summer of 2003 we initiated the first study of American Oystercatcher breeding ecology in the Northeast since the early 1980s in cooperation with Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. I spent the summer on the refuge monitoring breeding success and effects of mammalian and avian predation. I initiated a color-banding and radio-telemetry effort to determine patterns of survival, dispersal, and migration. During this summer I decided I wanted to continue research on American Oystercatcher conservation, so I applied and was accepted to the graduate school at North Carolina State University where I will build on eight years of research conducted at Cape Hatteras and Cape Research National Seashores by Dr. Ted Simons and his students in the Cooperative Research Unit at NCSU.
Current Research
The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is a conspicuous shorebird that breeds from Maine to Florida . Recent evidence of population declines in several states is raising concern over the status of their populations. Because the birds nest and feed along the outer beach, their populations are threatened by a variety of problems related to human activity. These problems include; disturbance related to human recreation and ORV's, loss of nesting habitat due to coastal erosion, and predation from introduced predators such as feral cats, dogs, rats, and in some cases raccoons. The network of National Seashores on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts provides critical habitat for this species. All nine National Seashores in the eastern United States have identified issues related to shorebird management as important priorities in their natural resource management plans. This study will initiate a multi-park effort to determine the management actions necessary to protect the remaining breeding populations, and to incorporate American Oystercatchers as a component of long-term natural resource monitoring on the National Seashores. Population trends for the species under varying conditions will be projected using demographic parameter estimates obtained through a cooperative mark-resight effort. 2005 Annual ReportResearch Photos
For more pictures and information visit the American Oystercatcher Research Website