Kent McFarland received his Masters degree in Biology from Antioch University New England in Keene, NH where he studied the effects of roads on the bird community in a Belize rainforest with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. He completed his undergraduate degree in environmental studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. He was a Peace Corps volunteer working with rural farmers in Caazapa, Paraguay from 1989-1992 where he learned Spanish and met his wife Clare, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. It was the bright birds of Paraguay that attracted Kent to ornithology. After a few months in the country he bought a cheap pair of binoculars and an Argentinian bird guide and became addicted to birds. He has been a member of the Woodstock Fire Department since 2001.

e-mail: kmcfarland AT vtecostudies.org

Current Projects

Vermont Butterfly Survey
Bicknell’s Thrush Studies
Vermont eBird
Hispaniola Bird Conservation
Vermont Invertebrate Database Alliance

Publications

Scientific Publications
Reports
Natural History Writing
Books

Select Scientific Publications

Rimmer, C.C., E.K. Miller, K.P. McFarland, R.J. Taylor, and S.D. Faccio. 2009. Mercury bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in the terrestrial food web of a montane forest. Ecotoxicology. DOI 10.1007s10646-009-0443-x.

Townsend, J.M., C.C. Rimmer, and K.P. McFarland. 2009. Investigating the limiting factors of a rare, vulnerable species: Bicknell's Thrush. Proceedings of the Fourth International Partners in Flight Conference: Tundra to Tropics: 91-95.

Townsend, J.M., C.C. Rimmer, J. Brocca, K.P. McFarland, and A. K. Townsend. 2009. Predation of a wintering migratory songbird by introduced rats: can nocturnal roosting behavior serve as predator avoidance? Condor 111(3): 565-569.

Frey, S.J.K., C.C. Rimmer, K.P. McFarland, and S. Menu. 2008. Identification and sex determination of Bicknell's Thrushes using Morphometric Data. Auk 79: 408-420.

Rodenhouse, N.L., S.N. Matthews, K.P. McFarland, J.D. Lambert, L.R. Iverson, A. Prasad, T.S. Sillett, and R.T. Holmes. 2008. Potential effects of climate change on birds of the Northeast. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 13: 517-540.

Lambert, J. D., K. P. McFarland, C. C. Rimmer, S. D. Faccio, and J. L. Atwood. 2005. A practical model of Bicknell's Thrush distribution in the northeastern United States. Wilson Bulletin 117:1-11.

Rimmer, C.C., K. P. McFarland, D. C. Evers, E. K. Miller, Y. Aubry, D. Busby, and R. J. Taylor. 2005. Mercury levels in Bicknell's thrush and other insectivorous passerine birds in montane forests of the northeastern United States and Canada. Ecotoxicology 14:223-240.

Strong, A.M., C.C. Rimmer, and K.P. McFarland. 2004. Effect of prey biomass on reproductive success and mating strategy of Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a polygynandrous songbird. Auk 121:446-451.

Goetz, J.E.., K. P. McFarland and C.C. Rimmer. 2003. Multiple paternity and multiple male feeders in Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli). Auk 120: 1044-1053.

Latta, S. C., C. C. Rimmer, and K. P. McFarland. 2003. Winter bird communities in four habitats along an elevational gradient on Hispaniola. Condor 105:179-197

Strong, A. M., C. C. Rimmer, K.P. McFarland and K. Hagan. 2002. Effects of mountain resorts on wildlife. Vermont Law Review 26(3): 689-716.

Rimmer, C.C. and K.P. McFarland. 2001. Known breeding and wintering sites of Bicknell's Thrush. Wilson Bull.113: 234-236.

Rimmer, C.C., K.P. McFarland, W.G. Ellison, J.E. Goetz and H. Ouellet. 2001. Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli). In The Birds of North America, (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Hobson, K.A., K.P. McFarland, L.I. Wassenaar, C.C. Rimmer and J.E. Goetz. 2001. Linking breeding and wintering grounds of Bicknell's Thrushes using stable isotope analyses of feathers. Auk 118:16-23.

Rimmer, C.C. and K.P. McFarland. 2000. Post breeding dispersal and migration stop-over in a montane spruce-fir forest in northern Vermont. Wilson Bull. 112:124-136.

Rimmer, C.C. and K.P. McFarland. 1999. Sky Island Songbirds. Natural History 9:35-39.

Rimmer, C.C., K.P. McFarland, and J.E. Goetz. 1999. Distribution, habitat use, and conservation status of Bicknell's Thrush in the Dominican Republic. El Pitirre 12: 114.

Hochachka, W.M., T.E. Martin, and 28 other authors including K.P. McFarland in alphabetical order. 1999. Scale dependence in the effects of forest coverage on parasitization by brown-headed cowbirds. Studies in Avian Biology 18: 80-88.

Faccio, S.D., C.C. Rimmer and K.P. McFarland. 1999. Results of the Vermont Forest Bird Monitoring Program, 1989-1996. Northeastern Naturalist 5: 293-312.

Rimmer, C.C., J.E. Goetz and K.P. McFarland. 1998. Bird Observations in threatened forest fragments of the Sierra de Neiba. El Pitirre 11(2):15-17.

Rimmer, C.C. and K. P. McFarland. 1998. Two new avian records for Hispaniola: Swainson's Warbler and Song Sparrow. El Pitirre 11(1): 15-16.

Rimmer, C.C. and K.P. McFarland. 1998. Tennessee Warbler (Vermivora peregrina). In The Birds of North America, (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

McFarland, K.P. and C.C. Rimmer. 1996. Horsehair fungus (Marasmius androsaceus) used as nest lining by the Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli) and other subalpine spruce-fir forest bird species. Canadian Field-Naturalist 110: 541-544.

Rimmer, C.C., J.L. Atwood, K.P. McFarland, and L.R. Nagy. 1995. Population density, vocal behavior and recommended survey methods for Bicknell's Thrush. Wilson Bull. 108:639-649.

Atwood, J.L., C.C. Rimmer, K.P. McFarland, S.H. Tsai, and L.R. Nagy. 1995. Distribution of Bicknell's Thrush in New England and New York. Wilson Bull. 108: 650-661.

Select Reports

Sleeper, D. (ed.), J. Andrews, L.A. Dupigny-Giroux, S. Faccio, J. Jenkins, W.S. Keeton, R. Kelley, J. Kellogg, T. Hanson, K. McFarland, E. Miller, H. Pembrook, R. Poirot, C. Rimmer, D. Ross, J. Shanley, T. Simmons, C. Still, T. Villars, B. Wemple, and S. Wilmot. 2009. Vermont's changing forests: key findings on the health of forested ecosystems from the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative. Vermont Monitoring Cooperative, South Burlington, VT. 40 pp.

McFarland, K.P., C.C. Rimmer, S.J.K. Frey, S.D. Faccio, B.B. Collins. 2008. Demography, Ecology and Conservation of Bicknell's Thrush in Vermont, with a Special Focus on the Northeast Highlands. Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Norwich, VT. Technical Report 08-03. 71 pp.

Rimmer, C.C., J.D. Lambert and K.P. McFarland. 2005. Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Strategy for the Green Mountain National Forest. VINS Technical Report 05-5. 28pp.

Rimmer, C.C., K.P. McFarland, J.D. Lambert, R.B.Renfrew. 2004. Evaluating the use of Vermont ski areas by Bicknell's Thrush: applications for Whiteface Mountain, New York. Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Woodstock, VT.

McFarland, K.P. 2002. Conservation Assessment of Two Endemic Butterflies (White Mountain Butterfly, Oeneis melissa semidea and White Mountain Fritillary, Boloria montinus montinus) in the Presidential Range Alpine Zone, White Mountains, New Hampshire.

Reynolds, D.S. and K.P. McFarland. 2001. Bat Biodiversity Survey in the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. Final Report.

Lambert, J.D., McFarland, K.P. and C. Rimmer. 2001. Mountain Birdwatch 2000. Final Report to the USFWS Region 5.

McFarland, K.P., C.C. Rimmer and J.E. Goetz. 1999. Demography and Ecology of Montane Forest Bird Populations in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Unpublished Progress Report.

McFarland, K.P. and C.C. Rimmer. 1995. Investigations of High Elevation Bird Communities in the Northeastern United States and the Dominican Republic. Unpublished Progress Report.

McFarland, K.P. 1994. Preliminary results of long term monitoring of wetland plant communities associated with beaver (Castor canadensis) activity on the Wildwood Property, Dublin, NH. Unpublished Report.

Select Natural History Writing

Northern Woodlands: The Outside Story

Audubon Guides Blog

,Vermont Entomological Society (VES) newsletter: Winter of the Bumblebee and Monarch Hitchhikers

Books

McFarland, K.P. and C.C. Rimmer. 2008. Blackpoll Warbler. Pp. 506-507 in The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State (McGowan, K. J. and K. Corwin, eds.). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

Steven Latta, Christopher Rimmer, Allan Keith, James Wiley, Herbert Raffaele, Kent McFarland & Eladio Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, 360pp.

Wooster, C. ed. 2007. The Outside Story. Northern Woodlands, 210pp.

Kent with Chris Rimmer and the oldest known Bicknell's Thrush they captured on Stratton Mountain, Vermont in 2007. It was first banded in 1997 on the same peak when it was one year old.