Islands have long provided insightful and important venues for ornithological research. Coupling the inherent advantages of island populations with long-term studies has been a very productive formula yielding deep insights into evolution and population biology. Following in that tradition, James N. M. Smith initiated what has become a 28 year study of the population ecology of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) inhabiting Mandarte Island, British Columbia. Taking advantage of the isolation and small size of the 6 ha rocky islet, Smith, Peter Arcese, and several notable students and colleagues have made that population of Song Sparrows a model system for understanding the complexities of avian demography and population ecology. Work on Mandarte Island has focused on a series of critical demographic parameters including the causes and consequences of nestling condition, winter survivorship, population regulation, territoriality, and response to natural selection. In 1992, Smith ceded the direction of work on Mandarte to Peter Arcese. The Song Sparrows of Mandarte Island now provide one of the best examples of inbreeding depression in the wild, a model system for studying the demographic and genetic effects of natural population bottlenecks, and a textbook example of avian population viability analysis and source-sink dynamics.

Like many small passerines, Song Sparrows are parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater), a fortuitous situation that has provided Smith with an important alternative outlet for his creative energy since 1992. Starting with detailed analyses of effects of cowbirds on the Mandarte Island Song Sparrows, and in continued collaboration with Peter Arcese and others, he broadened his studies to include the effects of brood parasitism at both the community and regional levels, expanding his work to encompass other nearby Song Sparrow populations and to study other cowbird hosts. Armed with both long-term data from Mandarte and studies on the continental mainland and several nearby islets, his work casting the demography of Song Sparrows in a metapopulation context stands out as one of the most thorough and extensive analyses of metapopulation dynamics ever produced.

For his success in unraveling the mysteries of avian demography, his pivotal role in initiating and guiding one of the most important long-term research projects in avian ecology, and his success in applying the resulting data to evolutionary problems of wide general interest, the American Ornithologists' Union is pleased to present the 2002 William Brewster Memorial Award to Dr. James N. M. Smith.