The 48^th Annual WFO Conference was held in sunny San Diego, California, at The Dana on Mission Bay, October 9–13, 2024. San Diego holds special significance for WFO as the birthplace of the organization. Though the field trips are a highlight, one didn’t have to go far to spot birds: the grounds hosted Allen’s Hummingbird, Townsend’s Warbler, Swinhoe’s White-eye, and a bold Black-crowned Night-Heron that haunted the outdoor patio seating at the restaurant next to the pool.

In total, 264 people attended the conference, including 34 students and scholarship recipients. WFO awarded a record 15 scholarships in 2024, including 10 through its regular program and 5 specifically to students and young professionals from Mexico. The latter was a first for the organization and very popular with conference participants.

Attendees chose from a schedule of 23 full- and half-day trips, including a trip billed as a whirlwind run across San Diego County in search of 100 or more species, and pelagic and kayaking trips. The trips explored a variety of habitats, from the rocky shoreline near La Jolla to estuaries and coastal canyons, to deserts and scrub, to conifer forest. Among the highlights were trips to see the Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail, the conference’s featured bird. During the conference, 241 species were recorded from 138 eBird checklists.

On Thursday night, during a reception at the San Diego Natural History Museum, conference-goers enjoyed a special display organized by Phil Unitt, curator of the museum’s Department of Birds and Mammals and long-time Western Birds editor. His selection of specimens had a special significance for WFO. Many had been collected or prepared by Guy McCaskie, one of WFO’s founders and the organization’s first president. A number of his specimens represented first records for California or San Diego County.

The conference featured two afternoons of science sessions. New WFO board member Hiram Rafael Moreno-Higareda, the first of the scholars from Mexico to speak, began Friday’s sessions with a presentation on the conference theme bird, “Trends and current status of the Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail in Mexico.” Julián García Walther shared details of collaborative work to conserve waterbirds in northwest Mexico, an important region for migrating birds on the Pacific Flyway. Later that afternoon, Liliana Ortiz Serrato gave a presentation on work with Least Terns in the Estero de Punta Banda, Ensenada, Baja California. On Saturday afternoon, Francisco Puente Guevara shared research on habitat use of the Bendire’s Thrasher in the state of Sonora, and Gonzalo De León-Girón presented research on the aerial quantification and characterization of nesting sites of Golden Eagles in Baja California. Liliana and Gonzalo gave their presentations in Spanish with interpretation provided for the audience by Edith Fuentes. Abstracts for the presentations of the five Mexican scholars, as well as other researchers, are available.

The conference’s first workshop on Friday focused on a local breeding program for the endangered Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail. Aiyana Reissman, a wildlife biologist and the Animal Care manager at the Living Coast Discovery Center, oversees the program. Participants met in Chula Vista at the Sweetwater Marsh Unit of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Aiyana gave an overview of the natural history of the subspecies and the history of the breeding efforts in Southern California. She led a tour of the captive propagation facilities, followed by a walk through the marsh, where participants were able to see rails from the refuge trails.

On Saturday, in a workshop tailored for next-generation birders, Phil Unitt and Lea Squires, field biologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum, demonstrated how to prepare bird specimens for museum collections and discussed how specimens are used for research. Over the three-hour workshop, Phil prepared a Burrowing Parrot and a Common Poorwill; Lea prepared an American Kestrel and a Belted Kingfisher.

The Sound ID Challenge, hosted by Nathan Pieplow, was well-attended. Five teams competed: Anonymous eBirders; Aplomado Falcons; Joseph R. Jehl Jr. Disciples; Desperate House Finches; and Typan-ouches (named “for the Tympanuchus genus, and because the tympanum in our ears hurts now”). In addition to competing among themselves, the teams went up against the Merlin app. After three rounds, the Anonymous eBirders won with a score of 25 points. Merlin had a total of 4. New this year were interactive polls in the Whova conference app for audience members to test their own auditory skills while waiting for the teams to submit their answers for each round.

For the Photo ID Panel, Ed Harper did his best to challenge the audience and panel alike. “I always start with an easy photo,” he said, “because that brings a lot of joy.” Panelists Jon Dunn, Joe Morlan, Teodelina Martelli, Lynette Williams-Duman, and Konshau Duman identified the birds in the five images in each round, pointing out diagnostic field marks and sharing their extensive knowledge of the wide array of species. Ed covered raptors, grassland birds, waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls, and other groups from the WFO region.

After past president John Harris had to leave early due to a family emergency, Debbie Van Dooremolen, incoming president, stepped in to emcee the banquet, which was held in an outdoor space at The Dana. At the banquet, WFO gave two awards. The Craig Award went to Jon Dunn. The Swarth Award was presented to Phil Unitt.

Keynote speaker Dr. Kevin Burns, biology professor at San Diego State University and curator of the bird collection at the SDSU Museum of Biodiversity, gave a fascinating presentation about the evolutionary history of tanagers, “A Tour of the Tanagers: A Remarkable Burst of Beaks and Colors.” As he discussed his years of research on tanagers, he highlighted the unique aspects of tanager behavior, ecology, and evolution, including recent work resulting in a major rearrangement of the tanager family. He also shared the story of the newly described Inti Tanager, a species first spotted in 2000 by Daniel Lane and Gary Rosenberg (a WFO member), who were leading a birding tour in Peru.

The conference would not have been possible without the immense efforts of the conference planning committee, volunteers, and field trip leaders, listed below. We also thank our conference sponsors: Harris & Associates, Holbrook Travel/Debbie Jordan, Crescentia Expeditions/Mario Córdoba, Palomar Audubon Society, and Patagonia.

Thank you to everyone who attended the conference this year! We hope to see you next year in Yakima, Washington, for our joint conference with the Washington Ornithological Society, June 5–8, 2025.

—Lauren Smith

Conference Committee

Tom Blackman, Charlene Glacy, John Harris, Dan King, Maci MacPherson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Jessica Sibila, Philip Unitt, Debbie Van Dooremolen, and Shaun Wilde

Conference Volunteers

Wendy Beers, Teresa Connell, Heather Earnhardt, Dawn Fletcher, Lena Hayashi, Star Howard, Betty Kanne, Steve and Carol Lombardi, Don and Laura Marsh, Teodelina Martelli, Denise Riddle, Lauren Smith, Sandy Smith, Weilin Tseng, Michael Wilde, Bill Yeates, and Lowell Young

Field Trip Leaders

Jeanie Anderson, Tom Blackman, Ned Bohman, Steve Brad, Nancy Christensen, Jon Dunn, Steve Ellis, Charlene Glacy, Tito Gonzales, Rick Grove, Lori Hargrove, Ed Harper, Gjon Hazard, Dan Jehl, Dan King, Patty Langen, Paul Lehman, Mandy Mathews, Keith Mayers, Sara Mayers, Chris McCreedy, Jimmy McMoran, Brennan Mulrooney, Beth Pearson, Nathan Pieplow, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Matt Sadowski, Mel Senac, Justyn Stahl, Paula Theobald, Robert Theriault, Nick Thorpe, David Trissel, Sally Veach, Geoff Veith, and Lindsay Willrick