Grant Recipients

One of IOS’s objectives is “To promote scientific research and education in order to improve knowledge and awareness of birds in Illinois”. The IOS Grants Program was initiated several years ago to support this objective with funds.

The 2014 IOS Grant Program received 14 grant requests. As a result of the generosity of several groups and individuals, 12 applicants were awarded, totaling $9,742. In addition to IOS provided funds, thanks to the following for their generous help:

• Bob and Karen Fisher and Vicky Sroczynski
• Pat Durkin
• Carl and Pen Daubach
• Southern Illinois Audubon Society
• The DuPage Birding Club
• The Lake-Cook Audubon Society
• Quad Cities Audubon Society
• Kane County Audubon Society
• Many IOS Members

Thanks again to Steve Bailey and Jeff Walk for reviewing and rating all the requests and to Bob Fisher who raised much of the funds.

Congratulations to the winners and watch for their project articles in future issues of The Meadowlark.

The following grants were awarded, with information regarding how the funding will be used:

#	Amount	Name/Organization	Description
1.	$500	Amber Wingert U of I – Champaign	Video monitoring of Barn Owl Nests to help estimate factors influencing reproductive success in this declining species.
2.	$1,000	Antonio Celis Murillo U of I – Champaign	Genetics to help elucidate patterns of extra-territorial forays in Field Sparrows; helping to answer “Why cheat on your partner?”
3.	$500	Christie Trifone-Simon Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation	Funds would help defray costs of a 5-day educational day camp, which provides outdoor experiences, many of which are bird oriented.
4.	$492	Janice Kelly U of I – Champaign	Playback experiment to understand if Yellow Warblers use information associated with their two distinct song types during habitat selection.
5.	$1,000	John Maddux U of I – Champaign	Molecular techniques to identify the importance of bumble bees as a food source for North America songbirds. A large collaborative project that attempts to connect the population declines among songbirds and bumble bees.
6.	$500	Justin Shew Southern Illinois University – Carbondale	Hire student technicians to complete analyses on various projects including studying the factors influencing Red-winged Blackbird aggression and Brown-headed Cowbird nest predation.
7.	$750	Kattie Morris DePaul University	Cameras to investigate the competition for cavities Red-headed Woodpeckers experience during the winter and spring within Cook Co., IL.
8.	$1,000	Kevin Sierzega Southern Illinois University – Carbondale	Transportation and arthropod quantification to support ongoing research on the factors that influence migratory songbirds in southern Illinois.
9.	$1,000	Maria Stager U of I – Champaign	Genomic techniques used to understand how birds are physiologically capable to cope with environmental change. Maria is using Dark-eyed Juncos that endure winter conditions as her model species.
10.	$1,000	Matthew Craffey Eastern Illinois State University	Radio-telemetry to study the behaviors of Red-winged Blackbirds using Miscanthus, a potential new agricultural crop in the Midwest. This research will help assess the environmental impact on bird communities in response to a shift in agricultural practices.
11.	$1,000	Scott Chiavacci U of I – Champaign	Camera equipment and other materials to experimentally test for the cues used by nest predators (e.g. odor vs. visual) in central Illinois.
12.	$1,000	Ben O’Neal and Heath Hagy Franklin College and Illinois Natural History Survey	Investigation of the nest success and density of waterbirds in various habitat types at Emiquon in response to changing water levels.

A record 22 grant requests were received! A record 13 were funded! A record $13,000 was contributed by a record 22 organizations and individuals!

Watch for articles about each of these projects in the IOS quarterly journal, The Meadowlark. Thank you to all the individuals and organizations that made these awards possible.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the 13 grants that were awarded:

#	Amount	Name/Organization	Description
1.	$1,000	Ben O’Neal Franklin College and Ill. Nat. Hist. Survey	Assess the nesting ecology of waterbirds and other marsh birds prior to the drawdown in the Emiquon preserve in spring/summer 2013.
2.	$1,000	Amber Wingert U of I – Champaign	Monitor the Barn Owl nest boxes in Southern Illinois to determine reproductive success, develop a model of nest box site selection and test the effectiveness of conspecific playback as a survey method.
3.	$1,000	Kevin Sierzega Southern Illinois University – Carbondale	Quantify the differences in bird community metrics, e.g., species richness, evenness and diversity during spring migration and in the breeding season across a gradient of oak-hickory and beech-maple dominance forests.
4.	$1,000	Scott Chiavacci U of I – Champaign	Determine factors affecting shrubland bird nest success and causes of nest failure in urban and rural marshlands in 8 test sites in northeastern Illinois and 3 sites in east-central Illinois.
5.	$1,000	Antonio Celis Murillo U of I – Champaign	To foray or not to foray: Extraterritorial behavior in Field Sparrows and its behavioral, morphological and reproductive correlates.
6.	$1,000	Maria Stager U of I – Champaign	Evaluate the effects of day length and temperature on seasonal variation in metabolic performance and correlated differences in underlying gene expression profiles in Dark-eyed Juncos.
7.	$1,000	Mark Swanson Field Museum and Ill. Wesleyan Univ.	Determine the interactions between morphologically similar, but genetically distinct Barred Owls of Illinois and the upper Midwest.
8.	$1,000	Henry Pollock U of I – Champaign	Investigate thermal tolerances and responses to heat stress in a suite of Illinois birds and compare the data with similar data collected in Panama to determine how birds will respond to climate change
9.	$1,000	Justin J. Shew Southern Illinois University – Carbondale	Funds for year 3 of a 4 year study of the nesting success, species richness, species population, etc. of grassland birds in land set aside in the Conservation Reserve Program(CRP).
10.	$1,000	Valerie Buxton U of I – Champaign	Making the most of what remains: Determining urban grassland quality in Illinois. Assess how grassland patch size and landscape context affect grassland bird occurrence, abundance and nest success. Funds for year 2.
11.	$1,000	Douglas R. McClain Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab – SIU-Carbondale	Year 2 of a study to research the response of breeding wood ducks to differences in productivity within the Cache River watershed. The Cache River watershed has undergone different modifications during its history.
12.	$1,000	Sarah Cleeton U of I – Champaign	Explore the role of migratory songbirds in the spread of Lyme disease invasion (such as Lyme disease) in central Illinois
13.	$1,000	Elsa Anderson DePaul University	Assess Red-headed Woodpecker nest-tree and habitat characteristics and evaluate nesting competition in relation to nest-site success in Cook County

One of IOS’s objectives is “To promote scientific research and education in order to improve knowledge and awareness of birds in Illinois”. The IOS Grants Program was initiated in 2004 to support this objective with grants awarded to projects relating to birds and/or birding in Illinois. Including this year’s grants, a total of 7 grants totaling $26,950 have been awarded.

The 2012 IOS Grant Program received 11 grant requests. As a result of the generosity of groups and individuals seven grants were funded. In addition to IOS provided funds, thanks to the following for their generous help:

• Bob and Karen Fisher, Vicky Sroczynski and John Burke
• The DuPage Birding Club
• The Kane County Chapter of the Audubon Society
• And Joan Norek, Jeffery Smith, Robert Shelby, Marsha Steffen, Steve Fluett, Jean and Bob Spitzer

Thanks again to Steve Bailey and Jeff Walk for reviewing and ranking all the requests. With so many worthy projects this was no easy task. Congratulations to the winners and watch for their project articles in future issues of The Meadowlark.

#	Amount	Name/Organization	Description
1.	$1,000	John Andrews U. of I – Champaign	Heterospecific (Social attraction between species) information use and habitat selection in Grassland birds: An experiment with Eastern Meadowlarks.
2.	$1,000	Evan Glynn Eastern Illinois University	Study the songs and responses of Black-capped Chickadees, Carolina Chickadees and hybrid Chickadees.
3.	$975	Valerie Buxton U of I – Champaign	Making the most of what remains: Determining urban grassland quality in Illinois. Assess how grassland patch size and landscape context affect grassland bird occurrence, abundance and nest success.
4.	$1,000	Kelly VanBeek U of I – Champaign	Effects of alternative tillage practices on bird populations in Illinois.
5.	$1,000	Chris Kirkpatrick Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation	Funding to help pay for a June 22-23, 2012 Bio-Blitz at Wapello Land and Water Reserve in Hanover, IL. In conjunction with the Field Museum.
6.	$500	Melissa Sunder Wildlife Prairie State Park	Purchase binoculars for the Park’s youth programs. A variety of nature classes are taught for all age ranges. The Park also participates in various bird counts, International Migratory Bird Day, etc.
7.	$500	Tyson R. Dallas U of I – Champaign	Determine what habitats and habitat features are associated with breeding and foraging of Red-headed Woodpeckers in Western Illinois.