Wildlife field work isn’t just for people and battery powered devices! Dogs are an effective and fulfilling tool in the conservation world. Meet Badger and Merlin, Bird Conservancy’s very own sparrow herding canines!
Brown-capped Rosy-Finches nest at higher elevations than any other bird species in the United States, and their breeding distribution is almost entirely limited to Colorado. Despite residing in an almost pristine environment for most of the year, they have declined by as much as 95% over the past 50 years and, unfortunately, we don’t know why. Read on to learn more about our efforts to solve this mystery.
Mixed-grass prairie in the Northern Great Plains represents critical habitat for wildlife of all kinds, including our specialty at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies – birds! Read on to learn more about our full life cycle monitoring on the breeding grounds and how technology is playing a role in helping us conserve birds and their habitats.
In 2013, two Osprey nicknamed Rainbow and Shadow from the Grand Lake area were fitted with tracking locators to help us understand their migratory habits. Three years later, the adventure continues!
This photo journal highlights the most recent winter field season monitoring grassland birds in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico. Teaching telemetry, radio tracking Grasshopper Sparrows and assessing predation/mortality rates are all a major part of this program.
Spring is nearly here, and with the changing seasons comes the spectacular migration of birds. We’re getting prepared and stoked for the upcoming bird banding season. To whet your appetite, we wanted to share the birdy highlights from the fall bird banding season. Enjoy!
This fall, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory caught a whopping 277 Northern Saw-whet Owls at banding stations in North and South Dakota. Among them were 9 recovered saw-whet owls, or birds banded at another station or during a different season. Where were the owls first banded, and when? Read this post to find out (hint: one was first banded about 660 miles northwest!).
Bird banding brings us cool birds, interesting insights and always new questions, and this spring was no exception. We again shared these experiences with hundreds of visitors, from toddlers to school kids to adults of all ages. Without further ado, here are the birdy highlights from the spring.
Spring is right around the corner, and you know what that means … spring migration and bird banding! We’re getting prepared and excited for the upcoming banding season. But before we get the mist nets out for another season, we wanted to share some birdy highlights from the fall (a little late, we know, but better late than never, right?).
t was a quality over quantity kind of season for banding Northern Saw-whet Owls this fall. While banders in North and South Dakota caught fewer owls per night, they recovered a total of 10 owls, or birds banded at another station or during a different season. Where were the owls first banded, and when? Read this post to find out (hint: one was first banded more than 1,300 miles east!).