Thank you very much

Hello Pierre! 

It's very nice to hear from you. In the future, if you'd like, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]. 

The manuscript for the subspecies review that I did for my PhD is near to submission. I have some final comments from Steve Lougheed to address and then we'll submit. In brief, the shrikes in ON are coming out as very genetically distinct. I've suggested the subspecies name of L.l. alvarnensis given that I think there is a historical link to this habitat, which is why shrike have been found historically in NE areas, regardless of (i.e. potentially before) European colonization - the timing for a subspecies to develop this level of distinction would pre-date the clearing of land for agriculture. 

Where I'm at now - I wasn't able to sample many NE populations during my PhD due to logistics of sampling small populations on private land. We've started a NA LOSH Working Group, which originally had a NE focus, but has really taken off and gone beyond that in the past year. We now have government folks, academics and even a private consulting firm doing surveys and banding in the Atlantic coast states and Florida! If you'd like, I can add your name to the list of Working Group members, so you can stay up to date in that manner as well. 

I've worked recently with biologists from VA and WV and analyzed DNA from feather samples from LOSH they trapped and banded, and also a few museum specimens (toe pads). The shrike in those two states are also coming out as alvarensis, suggesting the range extends that far south, but likely not too much further, given I do have samples from NC, SC, etc. from my thesis. Folks in Kentucky and TN and Indiana are now collecting specimens, and I've continued to work in Illinois since my PhD. So, I'll be able to in-fill there (I had no samples from Kentucky and very few from TN for my Phd). Also, I'm working with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, which has been accepting toe pad specimens from various museums I've contacted. I have a few more samples to request, and then have to get a permit to import samples, but these toe pads will be used to analyze shrike from states such as NY, Ohio, Michigan, etc. Which will help determine the southern and western extent of the subspecies range. I hope to be able to do this lab work in the late summer or early fall. I'll have to add to the publication by publishing a note or may do more extensive analyses - e.g. Approximate Bayesian Computation on the full data set to address hypotheses about expansion of range, etc. 

I was just recently hired by African Lion Safari, who are supportive of my continuing shrike work, include landscape planning and genomics. So, I hope to have be able to address more gaps in our knowledge in the near future. 

I hope you are well - very nice to hear from you!

Amy