McGill University
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Kyle Elliott
Start: 2026-09-30

Project

Investigating habitat use, resource partitioning, and migration in neotropical birds
My project examines habitat use and resource partitioning among four resident tropical trogon species, drawing on 15 years of data from the Toucan Ridge Bird Observatory at the T.R.E.E.S Field Station in Belize and other stations in the Belize bird banding network. It also investigates stopover habitat use and migratory movements of Neotropical songbirds along the Atlantic Flyway, using tracking tags on three passerine species. Together, these studies explore how resident and migratory birds use habitats and resources across different stages of their annual cycles.

Keywords

Stable Isotope Analysis, Bird Banding, Avian Ecology, Resource Partioning, bird migration, Neotropical Birds, bird migration

Publications

1- Variations in the diet of introduced Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) inferred using stable isotope analysis
Major, H. L., I. L. Jones, M. R. Charette, A. W. Diamond
2006 Journal of Zoology

2- Subcolony Variation in Breeding Success in the Tufted Puffin (Fratercula Cirrhata): Association With Foraging Ecology and Implications
Hipfner, J. Mark, Mathieu R. Charette, Gwylim S. Blackburn,
2007 The Auk

3- Mercury in Neotropical birds: a synthesis and prospectus on 13 years of exposure data
Sayers, Christopher J., David C. Evers, Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, Evan Adams, Claudia M. Vega, Jessica N. Pisconte, Vania Tejeda, Kevin Regan, Oksana P. Lane, Abidas A. Ash, Reynold Cal, Stevan Reneau, Wilber Martínez, Gilroy Welch, Kayla Hartwell, Mario Teul, David Tzul, Wayne J. Arendt, Marvin A. Tórrez, Mrinalini Watsa, Gideon Erkenswick, Caroline E. Moore, Jacqueline Gerson, Victor Sánchez, Raúl Pérez Purizaca, Helen Yurek, Mark E. H. Burton, Peggy L. Shrum, Sebastian Tabares-Segovia, Korik Vargas, Finola F. Fogarty, Mathieu R. Charette, Ari E. Martínez, Emily S. Bernhardt, Robert J. Taylor, Timothy H. Tear, Luis E. Fernandez
2023 Ecotoxicology

4- Range extension of Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo, Cabassous centralis Miller, 1899 (Mammalia, Cingulata, Chlamyphoridae), in Belize
Soriero, Vivian Ruth, Rebecca Louise Wooldridge, Bart Johannes Harmsen, Mathieu Charette, Vanessa Kilburn, Rebecca Jacqueline Foster
2018 Check List

5- Dietary segregation between two cohabiting species of sparrows revealed with stable isotope analysis
Hipfner, J.M., B. Addison, M.R. Charette
2013 Canadian Journal of Zoology

6- First record of Coyote, Canis latrans (Carnivora, Canidae), in the Mayan Mountain region of Belize
Jones, Dillon, Mathieu R. Charette, Vanessa Kilburn
2020 Check List

7- First record of leucism in the Spix’s disc-winged bat, Thyroptera tricolor (Chiroptera, Thyropteridae), in Belize
Martin, Vanessa I., Vanessa L. Kilburn, Mathieu Charette, Bruce W. Miller
2025 Neotropical Biology and Conservation

8- Death feigning behavior in the Ring-necked Coffee Snake, Ninia diademata Baird and Girard 1853
Jones, Dillon, Mathieu Charette, Vanessa Kilburn
2024 Reptiles & Amphibians

9- Observation of Nocturnal Feeding in Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus)
Charette, Mathieu R., Sophie Calmé, Fanie Pelletier
2011 Journal of Raptor Research