montana audubon - citizen science
You don't need to be a professional biologist to contribute to sound science and have a great time doing it. Consider joining one of the following citizen efforts and provide invaluable information of the birds, wildlife and natural systems of Montana and beyond. The top five are projects in which Montana Audubon is directly involved in 2009. The second five are ones we like and recommend!
- CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - over 100 years in Montana! (opens new page)
- 2009 Bridger Raptor Migration Count
- 2009 Colonial Waterbirds - with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks
- Flammulated Owls - with the Avian Science Center
- Adopt a QQLL - this effort to engage Montana's talented birders will help make the next edition of P. D. Skarr's Montana Bird Distribution the best yet! Join us...
- Great Backyard Bird Count
- Project FeederWatch - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Glacier National Park- Loons, Nutcrackers, Pikas info for 2009 coming soon
- US Nightjar Surveys - A national survey with routes available to adopt in Montana
- BUDBURST - a national project to track the impacts on plant phenology with our changing climate.
If you know of citizen science projects in your community, contact Amy, and she'll add a link!
More citizen science ideas and opportunities from National Audubon Society >>
2009 Bridger Raptor migration count
This fall Montana Audubon oversaw continued raptor monitoring at this site just outside of Bozeman. This is the most important Golden Eagle population monitoring site in the Western US! We plan to continue each fall and volunteers are welcome..
- Count dates: Sep 5 – Oct 31
- Count location: NE of Bozeman in Gallatin County. The crest of the Bridger Mountain ridge above the Bridger Bowl Ski Area, on the heli-pad directly above the top of the ski slope.
Purpose of project: To continue the long-term monitoring of migratory raptor populations using the Bridger Mountain Flyway, with an emphasis on Golden Eagles.
This project was begun by HawkWatch International (HWI) during the fall of 1990, and has continued every year since (19 consecutive seasons). During the past decade the Golden Eagle counts have declined. These declines have been corroborated by eagle counts taken at several other sites in western North America. The specific cause of these eagle declines is presently unknown, but is possibly due to climate change or other environmental factors affecting the abundance and diversity of their prey base. More study is needed to determine the cause of the population decline, as well as its severity and extent. Annual scientific counts in the Bridgers are essential to assess population trends of this widespread, top-of-the-food-chain avian predator. More at Hawkwatch International >>
Funding: Montana Audubon was able to raise most of the $5,000 to hire citizen scientists (and provide perdium) for the fall 2009 migration season. The US Forest Service and Bridger Bowl Ski Area each donated and individuals chipped in with the rest. We'll be looking for hawk watchers and donations again in 2010....
This project was dropped by HawkWatch International in 2009 due to a severe funding shortfall. A partnership between HWI and Montana Audubon allowed the project to continue this fall. All data collected is being forwarded to HWI so they can continue to statistically measure regional raptor population health and trends over time.
Findings: results from 2009 are compiled in this REPORT >>
If you would like to volunteer with this project or to donate, contact Montana Audubon's Executive Director Steve Hoffman 406.443.3949.
Colonial Waterbird Surveys in Montana
Many states in the western U.S., including Montana, have identified gathering information on colonial waterbird distribution and populations as a priority. We need to determine their status, identify conservation issues, and refine conservation actions. 
A survey of these species (see list below) is being coordinated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and implemented in our state by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks during 2009, 2010, and 2011 (for details see Western Colonial Waterbird Survey Protocols). Montana Audubon and the Montana Bird Conservation Partnership are partners in this efforts. Thanks to our intrepid field technicians Fred Tilly and Chrstine Paige, our first season was a great success.
A draft of the 2009 field season methods and results can be downloaded: Draft report, Appendix I, Appendix II.
If you would like to learn more, contact Catherine Wightman, cwightman@mt.gov 406-490-2329.
THANK YOU!
Priority species |
Secondary species |
American White Pelican |
California Gull |
Clark’s Grebe |
Double-crested Cormorant |
Forster’s Tern |
Ring-billed Gull |
Franklin’s Gull |
Western Grebe |
White-faced Ibis |
Eared Grebe |
Black-crowned Night-heron |
Red-necked Grebe |
Black Tern |
|
Caspian Tern |
|
Common Tern |
2009 Flammulated Owls Citizen Surveys in Western Montana
Montana Audubon was able to keep this volunteer monitoring project going! With funding from MT Fish Wildlife and Parks and in collaboration with the University of Montana's Avian Science Center and the Helena National Forest this citizen science program once again surveyed for owls.
Members of the Five Valleys Audubon Society Chapter and friends adopted owl survey routes in and around the Missoula area. And members of the Last Chance Audubon Society Chapter and friends did the same on the Helena National Forest and City of Helena lands. A special thanks to Birds & Beasleys in Helena.
A draft report of the 2009 efforts can be downloaded HERE >>
More information about these efforts beginning in 2005 can be found at the ASC's new website. Link to Flammulated Owl web page >>
We plan to add to this page later this fall.
Contact:
Montana Audubon's Amy Cilimburg (406-465-1141)
Avian Science Center's Megan Fylling (406-360-9814).
Helena National Forest's biologist Denise Pengeroth (406-449-5201).
Above, Matt Seidnesticker photo
Glacier National Park -
April 2009 -- information for the 2009 season will be posted in May -- as soon as GNP gets it to us!
According to a April 10, 2008 Missoulian article:
Wanted: Citizen ScientistsGet up from that chair and out of that cubicle, because Glacier National Park needs volunteer “citizen scientists” to help conduct field work this summer.
An ongoing project will track loons across Glacier’s million-acre wilderness, while another group takes to alpine heights to follow the lives of mountain goats, pikas and Clark’s nutcrackers. A third project is mapping invasive plants throughout the park’s backcountry.
To join either the loon or weed work, call Billie Thomas at (406) 888-5827. To get in on the goat, pika and nutcracker project, call Jami Belt at 888-7986.
Training will be provided to all volunteers, and the strenuousness of any given assignment will be tailored to individual abilities. All are welcome.
US Nightjar Surveys
The U.S. Nightjar Survey Network is continuing into its third year as a vital program to gather data on the population distribution and population trends on this group of declining species. Aall birders and conservationists are welcome to participate in the program by adopting Nightjar Survey Routes in 2009 and beyond.
Nightjars are the group of nocturnal, insectivorous birds that includes species such as the whip-poor-will, common poorwill, chuck-will's-widow, and the nighthawks among others. The U.S. Nightjar Survey Network was introduced in the southeast in 2007 and then expanded in 2008 to gain full coverage across the conterminous United States. We are grateful to the number of participants already involved in the program. The beginning years of data collection has already helped in explaining how the composition of habitats in local landscapes influences nightjar abundance. In turn, these data will one day help to explain population declines. However, there is still need for more routes to be surveyed, greater geographic and species coverage, and longer-term count data.
Nightjar Surveys are standardized counts conducted along census routes at night. Observers count all Nightjars seen or heard for a six-minute period at each of 10 stops along the route. The entire survey will not take much more than one hour to complete and only needs conducted one time per year. We have produced a series of routes in each state with many that are still in need of adoption by survey participants.
Please consider adopting a Nightjar Survey Route in your area. The continuing success of Nightjar Survey Network relies entirely on volunteer participation.
For details on route locations, methods of survey, and more go HERE >>.
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