Katie Hughes
khughes@email.arizona.edu

Background:

I graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California in 1997 with a B.S. degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology. Before coming to the University of Arizona in 2002, I worked on various research projects. These projects included studies in Yosemite National Park on forest demography, forest fuel accumulation, and grazing impacts on montane and subalpine meadows; burrowing owl demography in the Salton Sea area of southern California and in northeastern Wyoming; the Yosemite Bird Inventory; and the California Condor Recovery Program in Big Sur, California.

I became interested in why band-tailed pigeons breed in the habitats they do while working in southeastern Arizona. Because differential predation rates are thought to influence where birds nest, I’m trying to determine if the probability of nest predation influences band-tailed pigeon nest-site selection. To address this question my M.S. research involves looking at predation rates in mixed-conifer and oak woodlands in southeastern Arizona using artificial band-tailed pigeon nests baited with quail eggs.

  

 
     
  Publications:
 
 
  • Kirkpatrick, C., C. J. Conway, K. M. Hughes, and J. deVos. 2007. Probability of detecting band-tailed pigeons during call-broadcast versus auditory surveys. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:231-237.
   
  • Hughes, K., and C. J. Conway. 2005. Band-tailed pigeon habitat usein southeastern Arizona. Final Project Report to T&E, Inc. USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Tucson, AZ.
   
  • Kirkpatrick, C., C. J. Conway, K. Hughes, and J. deVos. 2005. An evaluation of survey methods for monitoring interior populations of band-tailed pigeons. Final Report. Wildlife Research Report #2005-03, USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Tucson, AZ.
   
  Presentations:
   
  • Hughes, K., C. Kirkpatrick, C. J. Conway, and J. deVos. 2006. Nest-site selection and nesting success of band-tailed pigeons? 39th Joint Annual Meeting AZ/NM Chapters of The Wildlife Society and AZ/NM Chapters of the American Fisheries Society. Flagstaff, AZ, 2 February 2006.
   
  • Hughes, K., C. Kirkpatrick, C. J. Conway, and J. deVos. 2006. Nest-site selection and nesting success of band-tailed pigeons. IV North American Ornithological Conference, Veracruz, Mexico, 6 October 2006.
   
  • Kirkpatrick, C., K. Hughes, C. J. Conway, and J. deVos. 2005. Call-broadcast increases probability of detecting band-tailed pigeons during surveys. American Ornithologists' Union, Santa Barbara, CA, 25 August 2005.
   
  • Kirkpatrick, C., C. J. Conway, K. Hughes, and J. deVos. 2005. Conservation of band-tailed pigeons: An evaluation of potential survey techniques. Annual Meeting of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. Las Vegas, Nevada. 9 April 2005.
   
  • Hughes, K., and C. J. Conway. 2004. The influence of nest-placement on the probability of nest depredation in band-tailed pigeons. American Ornithologists' Union, Quebec City, Quebec, CANADA. August 2004.
   
  • Hughes, K., and C. J. Conway. 2004. "An Evaluation of Survey Methods for Monitoring Band-tailed Pigeons in Arizona". Annual Cooperator's Meeting, Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Tucson, AZ. 11 February 2004.
   
    Awards:
   
  • 2006-07 International Wildlife Foundation scholarship from the University of Arizona
   
  • 2005 Student Travel Award from the American Ornithologists' Union