Personal information

migration ecology, avian, birds, bird conservation, bird ecology, movement ecology
United States, Belize

Biography

Ryan Phillips has been a professional wildlife biologist since 2004 and has focused his work on avian ecology and conservation in California and Central America. Ryan received a B.Sc. in Wildlife, Conservation Biology and Fisheries with a specialization in Ornithology from the University of California at Davis and a M.Sc. in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University studying Neotropical raptor migration. He has been an Adjunct Instructor at De Anza College in the Environmental Studies Department since 2008, where he has taught a multitude of courses related to wildlife and environmental science. Ryan has worked with a wide variety of species, including non-avian species, focusing on their ecology and threats to assist with assessing their status and implementing conservation efforts. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles primarily related to bird ecology and is an expert and authority on Neotropical raptors. During his graduate research, he studied the migration of Hook-billed Kites in Belize and Mexico and how weather influenced this migration. This was the first time this migration had been described. Ryan is currently the Belize Hawk Watch Director with the Belize Bird Conservancy, a non-profit organization he co-founded in 2009. He has extensive experience conducting field research and surveys, implementing conservation strategies, managing various projects, report writing, grant writing, and fundraising. The various field research methods Ryan has experience with include point-count and transect surveys, sweep transects, pitfall traps, acoustic surveys, spot mapping, trapping using various types of traps, banding, radiotelemetry, and camera-trapping. Since 2016, Ryan has been part of a team of burrowing owl experts for the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, currently implementing Tier 3 conservation actions under the Habitat Plan, to manage and implement conservation strategies to save the Burrowing Owl from local extirpation, which includes overwintering juvenile burrowing owls in captivity and soft-releasing them the following spring, as well as a captive breeding program.

Activities

Employment (10)

City of Mountain View: Mountain View, CA, US

2018-11 to present | Wildlife Biologist (Community Services Department )
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

NorCal Birding : Brentwood , US

2017 to present | Owner and Guide
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Talon Ecological Research Group: San Jose, CA, US

2015-03 to present | Wildlife Biologist
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Belize Bird Conservancy: Toledo , BZ

2013-09 to present | Belize Hawk Watch Director
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

De Anza College: Cupertino, California, US

2008-09 to present | Instructor (Department of Environmental Studies)
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Belize Raptor Research Institute: Campbell , US

2009-06 to 2016-12 | Executive Director and Co-Founder
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

The Peregrine Fund: Boise, ID, US

2004-10 to 2007-05 | Field Biologist (Belize Harpy Eagle Conservation and Restoration Program )
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

University of California Davis: Davis, CA, US

2005-05-15 to 2005-08-01 | Field Ornithologist (Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology)
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

University of California Davis: Davis, CA, US

2004-02 to 2004-08 | Field Research Technician (Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology)
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

University of California Davis: Davis, CA, US

2002-01 to 2004-07 | Raptor Biologist (California Raptor Center )
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Education and qualifications (2)

San José State University: San Jose, CA, US

2021 | Master of Sciences (Department of Environmental Studies)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

University of California Davis: Davis, CA, US

2004 | Bachelor of Science (Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Professional activities (3)

Raptor Research Foundation: Salt Lake City, Utah, US

Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Neotropical Raptor Network : -, PA

Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Neotropical Ornithological Society: FL, FL, US

Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Funding (6)

Tricolored Blackbird Monitoring

2017 to present | Grant
California Department of Fish and Game (CA, CA, US)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Tricolored Blackbird Monitoring

2017 to present | Grant
Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency (Morgan Hill , CA, US)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Hawk Watch Certification Program

2016 to present | Grant
Hawk Migration Association of North America (Farmington Hills, MI, US)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Belize Hook-billed Kite Research

2014 to present | Grant
Idea Wild (CO, CO, US)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Belize Solitary Eagle Project

2013 to present | Grant
Rufford Foundation (London, GB)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Belize Solitary Eagle Project

2012 to present | Grant
Idea Wild (CO, CO, US)
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Works (17)

Intratropical migration of the Hook-billed Kite ( Chondrohierax uncinatus ) in Middle America

Journal of Field Ornithology
2023 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 1557-9263
Contributors: Ryan Phillips; Kashmir Wolf; Ryan Bourbour; Jonathan Urbina; Jorge Eduardo Ruano; Victor Bonilla; Victor Gamez; Isael Mai; Isaias Morataya; Ronaldi Martinez et al.
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Review of considerations for restoration of tule elk to the San Francisco Peninsula and northern Monterey Bay counties of California

Proceedings of the 14th Biennial Deer and Elk Workshop
2022-10-12 | Journal article | Author
Part of ISSN: 2689-4203
Part of ISSN: 2689-419X
Contributors: Richard Lanman; William C. Leikam; Monica V. Arellano; Alan Leventhal; Valentin Lopez; Ryan Phillips; Julie A. Phillips; Kristin Denryter
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Breeding Ecology of the Hook-Billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus) in Belize, Central America

Journal of Raptor Research
2022-05-06 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 0892-1016
Contributors: Ryan Phillips; Ryan A. Phillips; Jan C. Meerman; Tineke Boomsma; Ryan P. Bourbour; Breanna L. Martinico; Randolph Howe; Ronaldi Martinez
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Hook-billed Kite, Chondorhierax uncinatus, southbound autumn migration in Belize and Mexico

2021 | Dissertation or Thesis
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Burrowing Owls Produce Second Brood in Mountain View, California

Western Birds
2021-11-01 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 0045-3897
Contributors: Philip G. Higgins; Debra Chromczak; Ryan A. Phillips
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips via Crossref Metadata Search

Foraging and nesting ecology of the Stygian Owl (Asio stygius robustus) in the Mountain Pine Ridge region of Belize

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
2021-04 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 1559-4491
Contributors: Ryan A. Phillips; Ronaldi Martinez; Ryan P. Bourbour; Breanna L. Martinico; Jan C. Meerman
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips via Crossref Metadata Search

Record of an alleged Solitary Eagle in Oaxaca is a Great Black Hawk

ACTA ZOOLÓGICA MEXICANA (N.S.)
2020-07-07 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 2448-8445
Contributors: William S. Clark; Jack Clinton Eitniear; Ryan A. Phillips
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips via Crossref Metadata Search

Book review of Raptors of Mexico and Central America

Western Birds
2018 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

First successful nesting of Swainson’s Hawks in Santa Clara County, California, since the 1800’s

Western Birds Journal 45(3): 176-182
2014 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Neotropical Birds of Prey–Biology and Ecology of a Forest Raptor Community. Neotropical Birds of Prey–Biology and Ecology of a Forest Raptor Community. Edited by David F. Whitacre . Forward by J. Peter Jenny . 2012. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 412 pp. ISBN 978-0-8014-4079-3. Cloth. 102 color plates (23 pages). $75.00.

Journal of Raptor Research
2013 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 0892-1016
Contributors: Ryan A. Phillips
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips via Crossref Metadata Search

Nest observations on the Ornate Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus ornatus in Belize, Central America

Boletin SAO 21: 1-9
2013 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

An active nest of the rare Solitary Eagle Harpyhaliaetus solitarius discovered in Belize

Spizaetus 13: 2-8
2012 | Newsletter article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Studying the Stygian Owl Asio stygius robustus in Mountain Pine Ridge, Belize

Spizaetus 12: 2-6
2011 | Newsletter article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Observations of the Post-fledging Behavior and Prey of the Solitary Eagle (Harpyhaliaetus solitarius)

Journal of Raptor Research
2011-09 | Journal article
Part of ISSN: 0892-1016
Contributors: Yeray Seminario; Ryan Phillips; Marta Curti
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips via Crossref Metadata Search

First nesting of Crested Caracara, Caracara cheriway, in Belize, Central America

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists 130: 69-70
2010 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Aging characteristics of Spizaetus melanoleucus: first photographic documentation

Neotropical Raptor Network Newsletter
2009 | Newsletter article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips

Studying hawk-eagles in Belize

Neotropical Raptor Network Newsletter 7: 10-11
2009 | Newsletter article
Source: Self-asserted source
Ryan Phillips