Dr. Alan E. Burger
Born in South Africa, I completed my PhD at the
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town in 1980. I have lived in Newfoundland and British Columbia, Canada since then. I am an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Victoria and also work as a wildlife consultant based at my home in the hills south of Merritt, B.C.
Research interests
- Foraging ecology of seabirds
- Conservation Biology
- Diving behaviour and diving depths of auks (Alcidae)
- Oceanography of seabirds on the continental shelf off Vancouver Island
- Effects of oil spills on seabirds
- Behavioural ecology of Sheathbills (Chionis minor) on Sub-Antarctic Marion Island - PhD thesis.
Research on Marbled Murrelets
Much of my recent research and consulting work is focused on the biology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet, a seabird species which is listed as Threatened in Canada and in the U.S. This work has covered:
- Location of nests and description of nesting habitat in old-growth forests
- Audio-visual surveys to determine stand occupancy and distribution of murrelets
- At-sea surveys to determine marine habitat use and distribution
- The use of radar to count murrelets and determine their habitat relationships
- GIS-based analyses to map and study habitat
- Development of low-level helicopter surveys to assess nesting habitat in forest canopies
- Analysing the occurrence of potential nest platforms in trees from across coastal British Columbia
I have been a member of the
Canadian Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team since 1990.
Other interests and associations: