It’s been a while since I’ve updated our recent lab news. Here’s some things we have been up to for the last couple years, in reverse chronological order.

Fall 2026

For Fall 2026, we are welcoming new MS student Colin Peña. The Burns lab for Fall 2026 consists of Michael Tofflemire, Allie Tappe, Colin Peña, Max Kirsch, and Erik Funk.

Spring 2026

Sarah Beaumont, an undergraduate student who had been working in the lab for the last 3 years, graduated with her honor’s thesis in May 2026. Her thesis focused on the phylogenomics of the White-headed Woodpecker. Congrats Sarah!

We had another great year in Ornithology class, with 171 species sighted. Not a record, but lots of great birds such as Bald Eagle and Red Crossbill.

In March 2026, we had a great time representing the SDSU Biodiversity Museum at the San Diego Science and Engineering Festival (held at Petco Park). We talked to thousands of kids about science and birds!

In April, Kevin gave a talk on tanagers for the Buena Vista Audubon Society titled “Beak Bonanza and Plumage Panorama: The Remarkable World of Tanagers”

During the Spring 2026 semester, MS student Allie Tappe was awarded several grants that will fund her research on the California Thrasher. Congrats Allie!

In January, Kevin traveled to LSU for the Society of Systematic Biology meetings, where he was reunited with former student Nick Mason, who is now professor and curator at LSU. Lots of great talks, many focused on the importance of museums. It was great to reconnect with Nick and the institution where he earned his MS degree.

Fall 2025

During the Fall 2025 semester, Kevin was has sabbatical which he spent mostly writing, working on a book about tanagers. He has also made a trip to Brazil where he was able to study some tanagers in the field.

The Burns lab had a great time at the 126th annual Christmas Bird Count in December. Our group again covered southwest San Diego Bay and nearby beach. Despite heavy fog and high tides throughout, we had 85 species, the second most we have had in our area. Lots of great birds, some highlights include Surf Scoter, Red-throated Loon, and hundreds of Brant.

We collaborated with researchers at UC Berkeley on a Wrentit genome paper. Wrentits have been a focus of the Burns lab for many years. Here’s the citation:

Benham, P. M., C. Cicero, K. J. Burns, M. Escalona, E. Beraut, C. W. Fairbairn, W. E. Seligmann, M. P. A. Marimuthu, O. Nguyen, N. Chumchim, E. Toffelmier, M. W. Nachman, and R. C. K. Bowie. 2025. A highly contiguous genome assembly for the wrentit (Chamaea fasciata), the sole representative of the babbler radiation in the Americas. Journal of Heredity, esaf063.

Here’s a picture of the Burns lab at the Fall 2025 Evolutionary Biology program area welcome reception. Kind of a small group shown here, but not pictured are Sarah Hood, Max Kirsch, Sarah Beaumont, and Erik Funk.  

Summer 2025

Several Burns lab alums presented their research at the 2025 meeting of the American Ornithological Society, which were held in St. Louis in June. Recent Burns lab alum Jonah Alderson presented results of his MS thesis on Scaly-breasted Munia.

We enjoyed a visit by Burns lab alum Bill Mauck, who now works for a genomics company in North Carolina. Here he is reunited with his old lab mate Raul Sedano who was visiting us on a Fulbright Fellowship.

Spring 2025

The Burns lab in Spring 2025 included Raul Sedano, Max Kirsch, Michael Tofflemire, Kevin Burns, Erik Funk, Sarah Beaumont, Allie Tappe, and Sarah Hood.

During Spring and Summer we were visited by Fulbright Scholar Dr. Raul Sedano, a professor at Universidad de Valle in Cali, Colombia. Raul is actually a Burns lab alum, having earned his MS in the lab. For his Fulbright, he began a collaboration with us on tanager genomes.

The Evolutionary Biology program sponsored a Darwin Day this year, which was held on Feb. 12^th, Darwin’s birthday. Our featured speaker was Dr. David Archibald. We also held tours of the museum, and graduate students, including Allie Tappe and Michael Tofflemire, highlighted their research.

Fall 2024

In Fall 2024, we are welcomed new MS student Allie Tappe. The Burns lab for Fall 2024 consists of Michael Tofflemire, Allie Tappe, Max Kirsch, Sarah Hood, Kevin Burns, and Erik Funk.

In October, several Burns lab alums as well as current PhD student Michael Tofflemire presented talks at the 2024 meeting of the American Ornithological Society in Estes Park, Colorado.

In October, Kevin Burns gave the keynote address at the Western Field Ornithologists meeting in San Diego. Great audience and nice venue – right on the water at Mission Bay. Talk title: “A Tour of the Tanagers: A Burst of Beaks and Colors”

In Fall 2024, Kevin Burns was a guest for four separate episodes of the popular podcast “Birds of a Feather”. He talked about 1) tanagers, 2) Darwin’s finches, 3) the Inti Tanager, and 4) the Wrentit

During the Fall 2024 semester, PhD student Michael Tofflemire published the first chapter of his dissertation. The paper focuses on the phlogeography of the Black-throated Gray Warbler. The Wilson Society awarded him the Edwards Prize for the publication, designating it the best paper of volume 136 of the journal. Congrats Michael!

Tofflemire, Michael A., K. L. Epperly, K. J. Burns, and J. Klicka. 2024. Integrative phylogeography and ecological niche analysis reveal insight into the evolutionary history and taxonomy of the Black-throated Gray Warbler (Setophaga nigrescens). The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 136: 143-165.

The Burns lab had a great time at the 125th annual Christmas Bird Count on 14 December. Our group covered part of South San Diego Bay and had 79 species, the second most we have had in our area. The San Diego circle had 226 species total, a record.

Spring 2024

Former MS student Nick Vinciguerra published another paper from his MS thesis, this one of bill evolution in tanagers:

Vinciguerra, N. T., J. M. McCullough, and K. J. Burns. 2024. Punctuated evolution of bill morphology in the largest family of songbirds (Thraupidae). Ornithology, ukae001.

Former MS student Ben Scott published the first paper of his thesis. This one focused on cardinal coloration, habitat, and migration:

Scott, B. F, A. J. Shultz, and K. J. Burns. 2024. The impact of habitat and migration on plumage colour in Cardinalidae. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 141 (2): 264-277.

In April, MS student Jonah Alderson successfully defended his thesis on Scaly-breasted Munia genomics. Next stop for Jonah is UCLA for a PhD.

We had another great semester in Biology 524 Ornithology. It was a crazy year with a tornado warning, flooding, and a late winter storm that canceled one of our mountain trips. Nevertheless, this year’s class destroyed the previous record of 176 species, reaching an incredible total of 187! We had 7 new species for the course this year including Snow Goose, Neotropic Cormorant, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Surf Scoter, Nelson’s Sparrow, Swinhoe’s White-eye, and Calliope Hummingbird. This brings our cumulative total for the course to 255 species.