The Williams Avian Ecology Lab
I am an avian ecologist with a broad interest in understanding how birds use habitats within the landscape and how habitat use and environmental conditions affect the full annual ecology of birds.
Featured Research Areas
My lab is currently focused on the Movement Ecology of Birds. We seek to understand how birds use habitat within the landscape and how habitat use affects survival.
Overwinter Habitat Use of Sparrows
We are using automated and manual telemetry to understand how overwintering sparrows use habitat patches within the landscape.
Movement Ecology of Henslow’s Sparrows
We are using automated and manual telemetry to understand habitat use and territory size of Henslow’s Sparrows during breeding and post-breeding dispersal.
Bird-Building Collision Monitoring
Our lab is monitoring buildings on campus to determine if birds are colliding with windows.
Ohio University Avian Movement Ecology and the Motus Wildlife Tracking Network
We use the Motus Wildlife Tracking Network to track birds we tag with VHF nanotags. My lab operates two Motus Towers in Athens County, including one at Ohio University’s Land Lab on Radar Hill. You can find more about our project and see migration tracks of birds we tagged.
News and Updates
Last Updated: January 21, 2026
Fourth Consecutive Return of YMYA
January 16, 2026
The William’s Avian Ecology Lab banded and nanotagged this Dark-Eyed Junco on January 21, 2023, with nanotag 69 and color band YMYA. At that time, he was recorded as a second-year bird.
We recaptured him today, making this his fourth consecutive winter returning to our field site!
Elizabeth Savitski is Awarded a PURF to Conduct Research for her Senior Thesis
December 30, 2025
In November 2025, Elizabeth (Biz) Savitski received the Provost Undergraduate Research Funds (PURF) to conduct research for her senior thesis. She will be examining the relationship between habitat structure, composition, temperature, and overwintering grassland bird communities. She will conduct habitat assessments and avian line transects across five study sites in Ohio and Indiana. Travel funds and lab equipment will be made available due to the PURF.
Our Team
I supervise undergraduate and master’s students in research and experiential learning. Students in my lab employ a variety of ornithological field techniques, including bird banding, automated and manual telemetry, and territory mapping. We quantify habitat at the landscape and local scale, food availability, and parental care in order to link environmental conditions and behavior to habitat use and survival. Our lab uses the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, GIS, and R to map and analyze data
My lab started a bird-building collision monitoring project in the fall of 2023 to determine if buildings on our campus are causing avian mortality. We build collaborations to find and implement conservation solutions.