The McCown’s Longspur is suffering a stark decline—an astounding 95% drop since 1966. Researchers are investigating the breeding success of this ground-nesting grassland species on the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER), located adjacent to the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeast Colorado.
With over 1,400 birds banded this season and 64 species recorded, the 2015 fall migratory season at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies’ Barr Lake Banding Station was “epic” for both birds and kids. Nearly 1,400 students and over 400 adults visited the station. Experiences varied from preschoolers taking their first-ever field trip on a bus to ornithology students from nearby universities beefing up their bird identification skills.
After graduating from college, volunteer Jennifer Meyers became a summer camp counselor for Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Jennifer writes about her experiences at camp in the Colorado high country and how she gained just as much from summer camp as the kids she mentored and supported.
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (formerly Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) and partners wrapped up their seventh season of surveys under the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions program, one of the largest breeding bird monitoring programs in North America. Seasonal biologist David Kramer offers highlights from a wet, snowy survey season.
On Aug. 31, 2015, we changed our organizational name from Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) to Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Our mission remains the same: We are committed to conserving birds and their habitats through science, education and land stewardship.
The Bird Conservancy (formerly Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) collaborated with a graduate student at Oxford University to study the impacts of natural gas well pads and their associated roads on the distribution of sagebrush-obligate songbirds. The student, Max Mutter, writes about the experiences leading up to the study and shares a key result.
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory is assisting federal and state partners in studying Golden Eagles breeding in Nebraska and Colorado. We are learning where these eagles go using satellite telemetry, as well as their nesting success, habitat use, and survival rate and mortality factors. Find out where one Golden Eagle traveled during a 10-day period this June!
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory biologists are back in Colorado after a fruitful winter studying grassland birds on their wintering grounds in northern Mexico. Before digging too deep into the data, biologist Erin Strasser offers a preliminary look at what they learned during season three of this study.
In late March, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory facilitated a workshop in Panama to assess the conservation status of the birds of Central America. The results, though preliminary, show that 52% of all birds assessed have experienced strong or severe population declines in Central America.
The Bald Eagle nesting season is in full swing in the Rockies. Citizen scientists with Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory are busy monitoring nesting activity across Colorado. Outreach biologist Jeff Birek reports that volunteers with Bald Eagle Watch have already observed at least 20 eaglets in nests across the state, including two at Barr Lake.
