GIS is an acronym that stands for Geographic Information Science, or Geographic Information System. This powerful technology enables Bird Conservancy Biologists to answer research questions, design scientific surveys, and measure the impacts of conservation projects on bird populations at a landscape scale.
Forest management has evolved rapidly over the last two decades as land managers strive to find a balance between wildlife habitat needs, resource utilization, fire mitigation, and resilience to climate change. Using birds as indicators, Bird Conservancy and partners explored the impacts of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and how modern forest management approaches are shaping avian biodiversity in treated landscapes.
After six years, nine states and over 200 surveys, IMBCR technician Mike McCloy shares his perspective on the importance of counting birds to conservation, the challenges and joys of being a field tech, and how he (and the landscapes he traverses) have changed.
For over ten years, private landowners have been granting permission for Bird Conservancy to conduct bird surveys on their land. These partners in conservation enable us to learn about bird populations across the whole landscape, beyond public lands. Equally important are the lasting friendships that often form between our staff and the landowners as they bond over birds, landscapes and the stewardship values we share.
Two large-scale monitoring programs collect data on bird populations every summer in the United States—Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions and the Breeding Bird Survey. How are they different, and in what ways do each program complement the other in addressing the vast information gaps needed to help inform avian conservation?
Every year in late spring and summer, our field season crew traipses across mountains, prairies and deserts to survey birds under the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program. As this post from our of our field technicians attests, these rugged and remote landscapes don’t always make it easy!
The Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program started in Colorado in 2008 and has since expanded to 15 states and 10 Bird Conservation Regions. In honor of its 10th anniversary, we invite you to explore a few examples how IMBCR data has benefited bird conservation over the past decade.
The Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program is one of the largest bird monitoring programs in North America, covering a work area of 450,545 square miles across all or parts of 13 western states in the U.S. 2016 will see a major expansion of IMBCR in partnership with Playa Lakes Joint Venture. Growth of the program complements monitoring efforts in the Northern Great Plains and promises encounters with even more bird species.
