Traditional and high-tech tools are revealing details about where Mountain Plovers spend time during migration and over winter—highlighting critical habitat locations and guiding much-needed conservation efforts.
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In the flap of a wing, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies’ 2018 Bird Camps are officially over! This summer we hosted over 140 campers, ages 4-17, from all over Colorado. It was a summer filled with laughter, seeing old friends and making new ones, learning and—of course—lots of birds!
205! That’s the number of species counted at our Annual Wildcat Hills Bioblitz. People of all ages came out to explore the Western Nebraska landscape through hands-on learning, and in the process made a wonderful contribution to science.
After several weeks of intensive nest searching and observation, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies has confirmed that Baird’s Sparrows are actively breeding at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area—the first time the species has been documented reproducing in the State of Colorado. This remarkable discovery marks an exciting milestone in an already-eventful 2018 summer field season.
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?
Dana Ripper, Director of Missouri River Bird Observatory, shares how earlier career experiences at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (then Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) are helping foster and support bird conservation in the heart of the Midwest.
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!
Mike Carter, founder and Executive Director of the Colorado Bird Observatory from 1988-2001, shares his memories about the creation of our organization and how events at the time came together to make it all happen.
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.
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.
