Tony Diamond

Brief biography

I became fascinated by birds around the age of seven. Early training in bird-banding at several British bird observatories fed this addiction, which was not significantly diminished by studying Zoology at Cambridge, nor by graduate work at Aberdeen on tropical seabirds in the Indian Ocean.

I went on to a post-doctoral fellowship on West Indian birds with David Lack at the Edward Grey Institute of Ornithology in Oxford, which became home base, between work periods in the Seychelles Islands, Kenya (University of Nairobi), the Cayman Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. Shortly before completing a popular book on bird conservation (Save the Birds, - published in nine languages in 14 countries), I emigrated with my family to Canada.

I worked for the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa (first as a researcher, later as Coordinator of the Acid Rain Program) and in Saskatoon (as a research manager, and Adjunct Professor in Biology at the University of Saskatchewan) before moving to UNB in 1994.

Research interests

Research interests centre on the evolutionary ecology of birds, especially in relation to conservation, roles in ecosystems, and as indicators of ecosystem health. My graduate students and I carry out research on bird ecology in both forested and marine ecosystems. Secondary interests concern the evolutionary ecology of island birds, monitoring bird populations through banding during migration, and the impacts of climate change on birds and other wildlife.

Selected research

Fayet, A., Freeman, R., Anker-Nillsen, T., Diamond, A., Erikstad, K.E., Fifield, D., Fitzsimmons, M.G., Hansen, E.S., Harris, M.P., Jessopp, M., Kouwenberg, AL., Kress, S., Mowat, S., Perrins, C.M., Petersen, A., Petersen, I.K., Þórarinsson, Þ.L. , Reiertsen, T.K., Robertson, G.J., Sigurðsson, I.A., Shoji, A., Wanless, S. and Guilford, T. 2017. Species-wide drivers and fitness consequences of non-breeding movements in a migratory bird. Current Biology 27:1-8. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.009

Scopel, L.C, Diamond, A.W., Kress, S.W. and Shannon, P. In Press. Seabird diets as bioindicators of Atlantic herring stock size: a new tool for ecosystem-based fisheries management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2017-0140

Scopel, L.C. and Diamond, A.W. 2017. Predation and food-weather interactions drive colony collapse in a managed seabird metapopulation. Canadian Journal of Zoology 96: 13–22 

Mallory M.L., Boadway K.A., Davis S.E., Maftei M. and Diamond A.W. 2017. Breeding biology of Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) in the Canadian High Arctic. Polar Biology. DOI 10.1007/s00300-016-2072-1