Daniel Brauning

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The PSO annual meeting has been the forum for announcing the winner of its Earl Poole Award for outstanding accomplishments to Pennsylvania ornithology since its inception in 1995. This year’s winner, announced at the banquet on May 16 and appropriately timed to coincide with the initiation of the 2nd Breeding Bird Atlas Project, is Dan Brauning, Project Coordinator for the Is’ Breeding Bird Atlas 20 years ago. Dan, who holds an MS degree in ecology from Penn State University, is presently Supervisor of the Wildlife Diversity Section of the Bureau of Wildlife Management, Pennsylvania Game Commission. He is a member of the Wilson Ornithological Society, our own PSO, the Ornithological Technical Committee (OTC) of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, Partners In Flight Northeast Working Group, and The Nature Conservancy.

Dan has published two dozen articles in Pennsylvania Game News, Pennsylvania Birds, and The Auk since 1987. Most of these papers deal with the status of Pennsylvania’s threatened/endangered/at risk species, some with population trends for Pennsylvania’s nesting birds, and others with research techniques for monitoring grassland birds. In addition, he has edited or coauthored three books in his young career: Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania, The Birds of Pennsylvania (with Gerry McWilliams), and the Chestnut-sided Warbler species account (with M. Richardson) of the Birds of North America series.

Dan played a major role in the restoration of Pennsylvania’s super-raptors: Bald Eagle, Osprey, and Peregrine Falcon, and was the principal author of the recovery/ management plans for those species. He has designed and implemented numerous monitoring programs for Pennsylvania’s protected and at-risk birds, including grassland birds, wetland birds, and birds of prey. He has worked with many partners to encourage bird conservation, including the Partners In Flight program.

He has served on the PSO board of directors and the OTC advisory board for many years. He recently chaired the important publisher/editor transition team for Pennsylvania Birds (transitioning from Frank and Barb Haas to Katrina Knight and then to Nick Pulcinella). He took on the seasonal editorship (summer) for Pennsylvania Birds in 2001 and continues that important task to date. He takes personal time to meet and socialize with birders around the state to promote bird interest and conservation. His bibliography follows.

Brauning, D. W. 1987. Pennsylvania breeding bird atlas project. Pennsylvania Birds 1(l ):2.
Brauning, D. W., and C. Dooley. 1991. Status of Peregrine Falcons in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Birds 5(2):59-6 1.
Brauning, D. W. 1991. Lending a helping hand. Pennsylvania Game News 67(7):27.
Brauning, D. W. 1991. Pennsylvania species of special concern. Pennsylvania Birds 5(2):63.
Brauning, D. W. 1991. Nominations for PORC membership sought. Pennsylvania Birds 5(3):115.
Brauning, D. W., and B. Peebles. 1992. Recent history and current status of nesting Bald Eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Birds 6(1):2-5.
Brauning, D. W. 1992. P.O.R.C. nominations sought. Pennsylvania Birds 6(4):150.
Brauning, D. W. (editor). 1992. Atlas of breeding birds in Pennsylvania. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Brauning, D. W. 1993. Pennsylvania’s breeding bird atlas. Pennsylvania Game News 64(3):19-23.
Brauning, D. W. 1993. Pennsylvania’s species of special concern update. Pennsylvania Birds 7(4):126-128.
Brauning, D. W. 1994. Population trends of Pennsylvania’s nesting birds. Pennsylvania Birds 8(2):66-71.
Brauning, D. W. 1994. Primed for peregrines. Pennsylvania Game News 65(6):33-35.
Brauning, D. W. 1994. Future breeders in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania Birds 8(3):138.
Richardson, M., and D. W. Brauning. 1995. Chestnut-sided Warbler. The Birds of North America 5(190):1-20. Birds of North America, Inc., Ithaca, New York.
Brauning, D. W. 1996. Great Blue Heron and Bald Eagle nesting update. Pennsylvania Birds 10(2):58.
Fedak, J. G., and D. W. Brauning. 1998. Short-eared Owls breed in Pennsylvania in 1997. Pennsylvania Birds 12(2):4748.
Brauning, D. W. 2000. The Rachel Carson suite. Pennsylvania Game News 71(12):14-17.
Brauning, D. W., and J. D. Hassinger. 2000. Pennsylvania recovery and management plan for the Bald Eagle (Haliaeeetus leucocephalus). Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 37 pp.
McWilliams, G. M., and D. W. Brauning. 2000. The Birds of Pennsylvania. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
Brauning, D. W., and G. Hassinger. 2001. Pennsylvania recovery and management plan for the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 28 pp.
Brauning, D. W., and G. Hassinger. 2001. Pennsylvania recovery and management plan for the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 34 pp.
Brauning, D. W. 2002. Bald Eagles in the 21 st century. Pennsylvania Game News 73(7):29-3 l.
Brauning, D. W. 2002. Summary of the season – July through September 2001. Pennsylvania Birds 15(3):161.
Brauning, D. W. 2002. Birds of note – July through September 2001. Pennsylvania Birds 15(3):162-163.
Brauning, D. W. 2003. Summary of the season – July 2002. Pennsylvania Birds 16(3-4):172.
Diefenbach, D. R., D. W. Brauning, and J. A. Mattice. 2003. Variability in grassland bird counts related to observer differences and species detection rates. Auk 120(4):1168-1179.
Brauning, D. W. 2004. Summary of the season- summer (June-July) 2003. Pennsylvania Birds 17(2):207.