David M. Bird

Professor of Wildlife Biology, Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Center (ASCC) of McGill University.

Currently a board member of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc. and Director of World Working Group on Birds of Prey. Elected as a fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union in 1996 and as a member to represent Canada on the International Ornithological Committee in 1998,he has worldwide contacts in ornithology.

He is working on birds in a variety of areas including reproductive physiology, toxicology, genetics, parasitology, behavioral ecology and nutrition. More particularly, he has worked with kestrels both in the field and in the laboratory for over a quarter-century. Over 20 theses have been supervised by him on this bird and well over 100 scientific publications.

A large captive colony of approximately 250 pedigreed American kestrels is maintained at the ASCC. Kestrels have been used extensively by researchers from all over the world in laboratory studies. They also proved useful as a model species to develop management techniques for the endangered Peregrine falcon raised at the center during the 70s and 80s.

As a professor of Wildlife Biology and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Center (ASCC) of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Dr. David Bird has published over 115 scientific papers on birds of prey, supervised 30 graduate students, and written and/or edited seven books, including City Critters: How to Live with Urban Wildlife and in 1999, both the  The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Facts and Figures on the World' s Birds and Bird's Eye-View: A Practical Compendium for Bird-Lovers.   With numerous contacts around the world, Dr. Bird is a past-president of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc. (an international organization devoted to birds of prey), past-vice-president of the Society of Canadian

Ornithologists, an elected Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Birding Association, and an elected member representing Canada on the prestigious International Ornithological Committee.

 Dr. Bird has devoted more than a quarter of a century of his life studying the American kestrel in both the field and laboratory. His research, often undertaken with his graduate students and/or outside scientific collaborators, spans a broad array of fields, including reproductive physiology, toxicology, genetics, parasitology, behavioral ecology and nutrition. Over 20 graduate theses focusing on kestrels have been supervised by him, resulting in well over 100 scientific publications. A pedigreed captive colony of anywhere from 50 to 500 American kestrels, depending on need, is maintained at the ASCC. Kestrels have been used extensively by researchers from all over the world in laboratory studies. They also proved useful as a model species to develop management techniques for the endangered Peregrine falcon raised at the center during the 70s and 80s. Dr. Bird pioneered artificial insemination techniques on the kestrel and he was the first person to produce a bird of prey using a forced massage method.  In later years, he and his graduate student, Kelly Brock, were the first in the world to produce a falcon from artificial insemination using frozen-thawed semen.

Visit Dr. Bird's web site.