About the Author(s)

Jeffrey S. Marks made six expeditions to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to study Bristle-thighed Curlews. To the surprise of many, the University of Montana awarded him a Ph.D. in zoology for that work. He was a Research Biologist with the Bureau of Land Management from 1983 to 1988 and a Wildlife Biologist for the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge in 1995. From 1995 to 2000, he was Managing Editor and then Editor-in-Chief of The Auk . He has been on the research faculty at the University of Montana since 1995 and currently is Director of Bird Conservation for Montana Audubon. In his spare time, he studies various aspects of the behavioral ecology of Long-eared Owls and a disjunct population of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in Montana. Current address: Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and Montana Audubon, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812. E-mail: jmarks@selway.umt.edu.

T. Lee Tibbitts' first encounter with a Bristle-thighed Curlew was in 1987 when a calling bird landed on her window sill at the Tern Island bunkhouse in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. She was immediately intrigued that this tundra-breeding shorebird had been able to navigate to such a small, far-flung Pacific island. The following year she had the opportunity to join a curlew research effort in Alaska directed by Bob Gill and Colleen Handel. She then proceeded to spend the next five summer and fall field seasons studying curlews on their breeding and staging grounds. At present, she is a Wildlife Biologist with the shorebird research program of the USGS Alaska Science Center. The program focuses on several aspects of the biology of Alaska's shorebirds, particularly their population dynamics, breeding behavior, and migration ecology. Current studies include a survey of the abundance and distribution of montane-nesting shorebirds in northwestern Alaska, a population assessment of Rock Sandpipers, and a genetic analysis of Bristle-thighed Curlew populations. Current address: U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503. E-mail: lee_tibbitts@usgs.gov.

Robert E. Gill directs the shorebird research program at the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center. His association with curlews began in June 1977 on the Yukon Delta and evolved into multiyear studies of breeding biology, autumn staging ecology, and population assessment. Without question, the Bristle-thighed Curlew has been the most challenging of all the shorebird taxa or issues he has worked on; his knees speak to him daily as a reminder of years spent hiking tussocky montane tundra in search of curlews, Surfbirds, and Wandering Tattlers. Despite this, his interest in curlews remains field-based, and he is now active in establishing a Central Pacific Flyway shorebird working group that will help address conservation issues for arctic-nesting shorebirds during their residency in Oceania. Gill currently serves on the Executive Committee of the International Wader Study Group and as a member of the Asian Pacific and Alaska Shorebird working groups. This appears to be the last of his efforts with the Birds of North America series. The friends and knowledge gained from the experience far outweigh the struggle to omit articles and prepositions from everyday written and spoken English. Current address: U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503. E-mail: robert_gill@usgs.gov.

Brian J. McCaffery's interest in natural history was supported by his parents (and tolerated by his sisters) from an early age. He has now hit for the cycle as a Birds of North America author, having served as a first, second, third, and (with this account) fourth author. That accomplishment is a testament to the patience of many people, including his wife Christine, his colleagues, editors, and coauthors (particularly Bob Gill, with whom he has had the pleasure of collaborating on four BNA accounts). He is the Nongame Bird Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, where he has worked since 1985. He serves on the Spectacled Eider and Steller's Eider recovery teams, chairs the Alaska Shorebird Working Group, and is an active participant in PRISM, the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring. Current address: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 346, Bethel, AK 99559. E-mail: brian_mccaffery@fws.gov.