Join the 2025 Long-billed Curlew Surveys
The warm and sunny days of Spring are fast approaching, and with that comes the familiar “cur-leeee” call of the Long-Billed Curlew, and our citizen science surveys of these charismatic shorebirds.
The Long-Billed Curlew depends on Montana’s grasslands for breeding, and continues to decline across its range due to loss of this habitat to development of agriculture and infrastructure. With this decline, more research is needed to assess the health and conservation needs of the population, meaning we need your help surveying across the Mission, Helena, and Blackfoot Valleys!
These surveys consist of 10 predetermined survey points along a driving (or biking if you’re feeling adventurous) route. Each point includes 5-minutes of looking and listening for any Long-billed Curlews, and any nearby birds.
Survey efforts for Long-billed Curlew began in 2012, and since then these surveys have not only tracked curlews, but have also tracked land use changes in these three valleys.
Two survey windows will be available for citizen scientists to participate in this unique effort: April 8th – May 7th, and May 8th – May 31st. The virtual training for this survey will take place on March 25th at 7 pm over Zoom, where we will go over the species background, identification, survey protocol, and data collection, along with any questions!
Interested in participating? Fill out our survey interest form here!
Any questions? Email Gwynne at gwynne@mtaudubon.org or visit our citizen science website for more information!
