As part of the Obama Administration’s ambitious youth initiative to inspire millions of young adults to play, learn, serve, and work in the great outdoors and the President’s 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Initiative, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced $6.7 million in grants to support conservation employment and mentoring opportunities at 43 projects on public lands across the country. The 21st Century Conservation Service Corps is a national collaborative effort to put America’s youth and returning veterans to work protecting, restoring, and enhancing America’s great outdoors.

With funding from the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park service, and US Forest Service, Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) will build on a long-standing partnership with the agencies to expand its internship program and improve outreach to underserved communities, including Native American, Hispanic, and other underserved youth.  The combination of KBO’s established long-term monitoring program and an intensive training curriculum foster the integration of youth engagement and professional training.  Program expansion will create four six-month internship positions.

KBO Interns are provided with a robust opportunity to gain a realistic appreciation of what a field biologist position entails as part of their training and practical experience.  The internship program establishes a working atmosphere of respect and collaboration with intern engagement with staff and Board members, a series of day‐long extracurricular seminars, and KBO social events. Interns also learn how the data they collect are applied to address conservation priorities at regional, continental, and hemispheric scales. Klamath Bird Observatory’s project will be operated out of long-term field residences in the Upper Klamath Basin, OR, and will include activities at 10 monitoring sites in southern Oregon and northern California, and at KBO’s headquarters in Ashland, OR.

This project is being funded through the America’s Great Outdoors: Developing the Next Generation of Conservationists, a competitive grant matching program launched in conjunction with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Through the America’s Great Outdoors program, a total of $1.9 million in federal funds is being granted to 43 projects country-wide, and is being leveraged into the $6.7 million to support youth across the country.

Klamath Bird Observatory programs and partnerships exemplify public-private partnerships and meaningful educational and employment opportunities, and focus on public lands conservation which is at the core of the America’s Great Outdoors: Developing the Next Generation of Conservationists program.

“We have a shared responsibility to protect and promote public lands that belong to all Americans so our children and their children can enjoy them for generations to come.  The 21st Century Conservation Service Corps is built through strong public-private partnerships that not only provide employment opportunities to young adults but also provide powerful connections to nature that will last a lifetime,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

“The partnerships associated with developing the next generation of conservationists offer an opportunity to connect our young people to the great outdoors,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This program engages young people from diverse backgrounds, including underserved populations, and equips them with the knowledge and critical job skills they need to pursue careers in conservation and land management.”

“NFWF is proud to support this initiative in partnership with the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to provide hundreds of young people with the opportunity to get real world, boots in the mud experience with conservation jobs,” said Jeff Trandahl, Executive Director and CEO, NFWF. “Providing these additional resources is a huge win for youth, conservation, and the future of America’s great outdoors.”

Klamath Bird Observatory is a scientific non-profit organization that achieves bird conservation in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the migratory ranges of the birds of our region. KBO developed an award-winning conservation model in the ruggedly beautiful and wildlife-rich Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion of southern Oregon and northern California, and KBO now applies this model more broadly to care for our shared birds throughout their annual cycles. Emphasizing high caliber science and the role of birds as indicators of the health of the land, we specialize in cost-effective bird monitoring and research projects that improve natural resource management. Also, recognizing that conservation occurs across many fronts, we nurture a conservation ethic in our communities through our outreach and educational programs. We owe our success to committed donors, volunteers, staff, and conservation partners who demonstrate that each of us can contribute to a legacy of abundant bird populations and healthy land, air, and water.

Click here to access a PDF of this press release.

  Fine art can be a powerful force for bird conservation. This notion will come to life at the upcoming Mountain Bird Festival through a Fine Art Auction featuring the impressive talent of our region’s artists. There will be 14 art submissions for auction, and bids can be placed on Friday May 30th from 5:00 – 9:00pm and on Saturday May 31st from 5:00 – 6:45pm at the festival’s headquarters: ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum (1500 E Main St, Ashland).

Bids can be placed by individuals who are registered for the festival, or by individuals who purchase a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp and a Mountain Bird Conservation Science Stamp ($15 each, $30 in total) at the door to gain entry to the evening festivities, including art auction, no-host bar, and Saturday keynote presentations and music. Funds generated from stamp sales will directly support bird and habitat conservation.

To the right and below, we share a sample of the fine art that will be on display at the first-ever Mountain Bird Festival. The Mountain Bird Festival is a community conservation event hosted by Klamath Bird Observatory, in partnership with the City of Ashland, Ashland Chamber of Commerce, and ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum.

   

  Klamath Bird Observatory, with funding from the City of Ashland and the Kinsman Foundation, and overwhelming support from a community of sponsors and volunteers, is gearing up to host our first Mountain Bird Festival.  Bird enthusiasts are signing up and so far the majority of registrants will be coming from outside the region to attend this unique celebration in Ashland, Oregon from May 30th to June 1st. We are hosting this festival within a  context of conservation.

Klamath Bird Observatory is currently serving on a national team of scientists and communications specialists working to produce annual State of the Birds reports. The reports link bird conservation to the fundamentals of sustainability. They recognize that bird populations, like the famous canary in the coal mine, serve as bellwethers of the health of whole ecosystems, and thus our economic and social well-being.

As the State of the Birds Team works on the upcoming report, which will provide an update on bird population trends in our country since the initial report five years ago, we reflect on the centennial commemoration of the Passenger Pigeon. Once North America’s most abundant bird, the Passenger Pigeon was driven to extinction 100 years ago. A lesson that emerges from this travesty is that we must use proactive approaches to natural resource management and excellent applied science to avoid such unnecessary losses in the future.

While the State of the Birds reports highlight many inspiring conservation success stories, such as the recovery of the Peregrine Falcon, and the effective management of migratory birds through the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, they also outline some alarming trends. For example, declines of western forest birds appear to be sharpening, a reflection of the forest management challenges facing local communities, economies, and ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.

So, by placing a birding festival within a conservation context, we are balancing troubling news about declining bird populations with the optimism that science-based conservation can work. The Mountain Bird Festival celebrates how citizens and science can reverse bird population declines through strategic habitat conservation, an engaged citizenry, and stewardship for resilient ecosystems. During the festival, field trip goers will be exploring the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion, an area renowned for its high diversity of western forest migratory birds. This is also an area where opportunities abound for improved conservation of these species.

By signing up for the Mountain Bird Festival, every registrant will be purchasing a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp and thereby directly contributing to habitat protection within the National Wildlife Refuge System. Additionally with registration, every festival attendee will be purchasing a Mountain Bird Conservation Science Stamp, with proceeds supporting Klamath Bird Observatory’s scientific programs that are driving western forest bird conservation in the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

We hope you attend our inaugural Mountain Bird Festival and help us write a new conservation success story starring citizens, science, and mountain birds.

Remarkable Recapture of a Migratory Thrush

By Brandon Breen, Klamath Bird Observatory Science Communications Breaking News! Former KBO Intern captures a remarkable bird in the highlands of western Colombia, 2,714 miles from where it was originally banded! Andrés Henao and colleagues were banding birds this week in the highlands of Colombia near the town of Las Margaritas, and on December 17th they noticed that one of the migratory birds in their mist-nets had already been banded with a small metal tag on its leg.  The band was heavily worn, suggesting this bird had a story to tell. First, the biologists identified the bird as a Swainson’s Thrush and recorded the band number —2251-27131—double-checking the number. Then they carefully and quickly collected additional data about the bird, data that help determine the bird’s condition, before releasing it back into the wild.  Afterward the biologists continued their banding operation, giving each additional bird that they captured equal attention and care. When they completed the day’s banding effort, Andrés contacted his former teacher, KBO Banding Project Lead Robert Frey, to tell him the exiting news: “We recaptured a banded migratory bird today, and based on the inscription on the band, it looks like the bird was originally banded in the United States with a tag issued by the Bird Banding Laboratory.” Together, Robert and Andrés logged onto the Banding Lab’s website to enter the recaptured band number. Immediately, the Banding Lab’s web site provided incredible information about the bird!  This individual was banded in spring of 2008, in eastern Nebraska, near the town of Unadilla. At that time the Swainson’s Thrush was determined to be an “after hatch year,” meaning it was at least 1 year old, having hatched during the spring or summer of 2007, or earlier. Five and a half years later the bird was recaptured 2,714 miles from where it was originally encountered. Foreign Recapture is the term used when a previously banded and captured and released by a different permit than originally banded it. The Banding Lab will be contacting the original bander, and we will learn even more about this individual migratory bird.  Swainson’s Thrushes breed throughout Canada and Alaska, as well as in pockets in the western United States, in the northern Great Lakes states, and in northern New England. They winter in southern Mexico, Central America, and throughout much of western South America. The Swainson’s Thrush of this story winters in Colombia and likely breeds (and was likely hatched) in central Canada. Twice each year this individual flies between the two locations, passing through Nebraska on the way. So far, this 1 ounce bird has completed at least six round-trip migrations. While this Swainson’s Thrush recovery shows us the connection between Colombia as a wintering site and Nebraska as a migratory pathway, this bird also illustrates the connections we have as conservation biologists working together to learn about and conserve migratory birds throughout their annual life cycles on a hemispheric scale.  Klamath Bird Observatory works closely with many partners, including the United States Forest Service’s International Programs, to develop international conservation capacity in Latin America. Each year we invite several international interns to participate in our intensive bird banding training program.  We then work with these partners to help them develop bird monitoring and conservation programs in their home countries.  Andrés Henao trained with Klamath Bird Observatory for two seasons as a bird banding intern. Andrés is now training colleagues in his native Colombia, and he recently participated as an instructor in an international training program in Brazil. Klamath Bird Observatory is proud to partner with these early-career conservation biologists in Latin America who are contributing information and developing capacity that ultimately will allow us all to become better stewards of our shared migratory birds. We will share additional details about this remarkable Swainson’s Thrush as we learn more. Stay tuned!

PechaKucha Night Focuses on Birds

By Brandon Breen, Klamath Bird Observatory Science Communications and Outreach Klamath Bird Observatory is teaming up with Standing Stone Brewing Company and community organizer Malena Marvin to present Ashland’s 5th PechaKucha Night this Sunday, October 27th at 8:00 p.m. at Standing Stone in Ashland. This event is free to the public. The theme of the night is “Taking Flight.” A dovetailing of science and story, ten local people will present 20 images for 20 seconds each on the birds, planes, and projects that have taken wing in their lives. PechaKucha Nights are devoted to the art of the concise presentation. PechaKucha Night was started in Tokyo by architects as a forum for designers to share their work, and has spread to 600 cities around the globe over the last 10 years. Its trademark 20 images X 20 seconds presentations keep the evening moving along at a fun and informative pace. Klamath Bird Observatory will have a strong presence at this event which will highlight the important connections between birds and people, including how bird conservation improves human well-being. Staff and partners, including Pepper Trail, Steve Godwin, Harry Fuller, John Alexander, Marcella Sciotto, and Brandon Breen, will present on topics ranging from Great Gray Owls, Lewis’s Woodpeckers, albatrosses, the Falkland Islands, and taking flight from Manhattan to live in Ashland, Oregon. Ashland’s PechaKucha Nights pack the house, so come early to get a seat and enjoy dinner or drinks!

Citizens & Science Elevating Bird Conservation

May 30th, May 31st, and June 1st, 2014

Ashland, Oregon

Mark your calendar, the first-ever Mountain Bird Festival is coming! Klamath Bird Observatory will host this community conservation event next spring in Ashland, Oregon. Our vision is to create a festival that combines a celebration of nature with the stewardship ethic needed to ensure thriving landscapes for humans and wildlife. Every citizen who participates in this festival will become a significant steward of the science that drives bird conservation.

The idea for this festival began several years ago with KBO Board President Harry Fuller. Harry is a dedicated birder and indefatigable birdwatching guide. As Harry took clients on birding trips throughout the region, he noticed how impressed they were with the birdlife as well as the region’s many other attractions.

We hope you attend the festival for the guided bird walks and keynote presentations and stay for the destination lunches, fine art, music, and more. We will have half-day and full day field trips both Saturday and Sunday. For non-birders Ashland provides a variety of activities. There are over a dozen boutique wineries within a half hour’s drive. The downtown has many interesting shops and galleries. There are brewpubs, book stores, coffee shops, boutiques, movie theatres and a variety of specialty shops. Of course, Ashland is home of the widely acclaimed Oregon Shakespeare Festival with afternoon and evening plays all three days of the festival; be sure and get your tickets well in advance.

KBO will be working closely with the City of Ashland, the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, and many others.

Some of our target birds are: Redhead, Common Merganser, Mountain Quail, nesting Sandhill Cranes, nesting Osprey, Ferruginous Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, dancing Western and Clark’s Grebes, Wilson’s Snipe, Black Terns, Great Gray Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Vaux’s Swift, Calliope Hummingbird, Prairie Falcon, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, White-headed Woodpecker, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Mountain Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Townsend’s Solitaire, Mountain Bluebird, Hermit Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Lazuli Bunting.

Visit the Klamath Bird Observatory website for Mountain Bird Festival updates and registration information by clicking this link.

This article is the seventh installment in the series Achieving Partners in Flight Strategic Goals and Objectives.  

Klamath Bird Observatory is working with local restoration partners to integrate Partners in Flight priorities and objectives into private lands restoration programs.  The Central Umpqua Mid Klamath Oak Habitat Conservation Project, funded by the NRCS Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, is a landscape-scale effort to restore oak woodlands on private lands in southern Oregon and northern California.  As a part of this project 15 public and private partners leveraged over $3.8 million to restore 2,000 acres of Oregon white oak habitat.  

Lomakatsi Restoration Project and Klamath Bird Observatory are using objectives from regional Partners in Flight (PIF) conservation plans to guide the restoration.  Habitat objectives for Oak Titmouse, Acorn Woodpecker, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and other oak woodland species are providing details for management prescriptions designed to create oak woodland habitat mosaics, restore native perennial grasses, and reintroduce natural fire regimes whenever possible.  Bird monitoring is being integrated into habitat monitoring efforts to assess the effectiveness of restoration based on PIF population objectives. This unique collaboration received the 2012 Department of Interior Partners in Conservation Award.  

Download the Partners in Flight Conservation Brief for this project by clicking here. Also see the 2013 State of the Birds Report on Private Lands that highlighted this collaborative oak restoration project in the section on western forest conservation.

This article is the sixth installment in the series Achieving Partners in Flight Strategic Goals and Objectives.

An important bird conservation goal is to integrate Partners in Flight priorities and objectives into public agency natural resource planning and action.  Partners in Flight uses a science-based method for bird conservation that incorporates a multi-species approach for assessing landbird vulnerabilities and needs, setting measurable conservation targets, describing management to meet these targets, and measuring the effectiveness of conservation actions. This approach can help land managers meet their ecosystem management needs. By aligning science, planning, and implementation among partners, we can more strategically implement actions that address priority science and habitat needs.

This strategic goal builds upon ten examples that illustrate both the process and science behind bird conservation throughout the western United States.  These examples were recently featured in Informing Ecosystem Management: Science and Process for Landbird Conservation in the Western United States, a Biological Technical Publication published by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The publication (1) describes how bird conservation and effectiveness monitoring can be integrated into land management guidelines with an emphasis on partnerships, and (2) presents case studies which highlight bird monitoring within the adaptive management framework.  The publication emphasizes both the science of monitoring and the process of its integration into land management because both are necessary in order for effectiveness monitoring to fully impact decision making.

Collaborating with national and regional partners, Klamath Bird Observatory is working toward better integrating the Partners in Flight approach within federal management planning and implementation.  At the 2012 annual meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, we had an opportunity to present specific examples of how the tools developed by Partners in Flight can tie into natural resource management planning to an array of national resource management leaders.  We then teamed up with partners in Oregon and Washington to take the message on the road, presenting a traveling workshop that provided training to a wider audience on the use of Partners in Flight tools for assessing conservation needs, setting quantifiable management objectives, evaluating management alternatives, and monitoring management effectiveness.

We are now following up with regional partners to provide guidance on the process for identifying species that can serve as indicators of habitat and/or ecosystem condition at geographic scales appropriate for various land management and monitoring purposes.  We are working with Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management partners to develop projects that focus on using Partners in Flight’s conservation planning process in support of broad scaled and project level planning.  The recently published Habitat Conservation for Landbirds in Coniferous Forests of Western Oregon and Washington (Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight) is serving to guide these efforts.  This plan identifies 25 focal species that collectively represent the important habitat components of a functioning coniferous forest ecosystem.

A Traveling Workshop

By Barb Bresson, US Forest Service and BLM Regional Avian Program Manager This article is the fifth installment in the series Achieving Partners in Flight Strategic Goals and Objectives. Partners in Flight’s science-based method for bird conservation incorporates a multi-species approach for assessing landbird vulnerabilities and needs, setting measurable conservation targets, describing management to meet these targets, and measuring the effectiveness of conservation actions. One of Partners in Flight’s goals is to integrate its science-based approach into public agency planning and actions in order to advance bird conservation while helping land managers meet ecosystem management objectives. The Oregon-Washington Chapter of Partners in Flight developed a traveling workshop to provide information to land managers about bird conservation processes, priorities, and tools. The Chapter began developing the workshops during the winter of 2012, and the focus was on Partners in Flight’s science-based tools that support ecosystem management. The objective was to demonstrate how these various tools can be used for assessing conservation needs, setting quantifiable management objectives, evaluating management alternatives, and monitoring management effectiveness. The sessions were structured to review current policies and plans, discuss the pros and cons of the various species lists available, and present information on the Joint Ventures and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives.  Other topics included bird conservation within the context of ecological forestry, focal species as measurable indicators of desired management conditions, and the consistent use of Partners in Flight science-based tools within the National Environmental Policy Act (a.k.a. NEPA).  Our presenters included John Alexander (Klamath Bird Observatory), Bob Altman (American Bird Conservancy and Pacific Coast Joint Venture), Dan Casey (American Bird Conservancy and Intermountain West Coast Joint Venture), Mike Green (US Fish and Wildlife Service), Aaron Holmes (Point Blue Conservation Science and Northwest Wildlife Science), and Jaime Stephens (Klamath Bird Observatory). The material covered in the sessions was considered essential to those involved in on-the-ground bird conservation and was geared toward the major habitats found throughout the bi-state area (i.e., mixed conifer, oak woodlands, sage brush, and ponderosa pine habitats). Four locations throughout Oregon and Washington were selected for the workshops. The sites were carefully chosen to minimize the amount of travel and overnight stays required for participants; instead, the cadre of 6 individuals who presented the workshops took on the driving and overnight stays. The workshops were all one day in length; they began at 10:00 a.m. (allowing for morning travel) and ended at 4:00 p.m. The workshops were open to both government and non-government personnel, and workshop participants registered in advance for one of the 4 workshop locations. A total of 146 people attended the 4 workshops; of these, 94 people were from a federal agency, 43 were from NGOs, and 9 were from state agencies. Region Six of the Forest Service contributed $20,000 plus staff time for coordinating the sessions. Partners from Klamath Bird Observatory, American Bird Conservancy, Northwest Wildlife Science, Intermountain West Joint Venture, Pacific Coast Joint Venture, Point Blue Conservation Science, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, and Natural Resource Conservation Service contributed $10,000 in-kind in staff time. By holding the workshops in multiple locations we calculated a savings of approximately $195,000 associated with travel and lodging costs and staff time. Partners in Flight intends to replicate these workshops throughout the various Bird Conservation Regions across the country.  Oregon-Washington Partners in Flight members are available to participate, advise and assist any regions that are willing to present a similar avian conservation message. The training materials, including all the power point presentations, can be found under “workshops” on the Oregon-Washington Chapter of Partners in Flight web page.

Saving Our Shared Birds

By Sarah Rockwell, Klamath Bird Observatory Research Biologist I just returned from the 5th International Partners in Flight Conference at the beautiful Snowbird Resort outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. This meeting brought together scientists and natural resource managers from various sectors with a lofty goal: to set a vision for the conservation of birds in the Western Hemisphere. The theme of the week was full life cycle conservation—thinking about how to protect birds and their habitats not only where we encounter them in the North, but also on their migration and at wintering sites in Mexico and Central America. We separated into groups defined by connected breeding and wintering habitats, and each group identified conservation priorities and proposed several specific projects to address existing threats to birds and habitat. We put special emphasis on identifying areas where overwintering migrant species and Latin American endemic birds overlap, in order to maximize the benefit of our conservation dollars. Forty-some participants from Latin America attended the meeting to add their expertise and contribute to the discussion. In the working group I attended (western coniferous forest birds migrating to Mexican oak-pine highlands) there was a consensus that one of the biggest threats facing birds on both sides of the US-Mexico border is non-optimal forest management, relating to fire and logging practices. For example, Lewis’s and White-headed Woodpeckers in Oregon, as well as Thick-billed and Maroon-fronted Parrots in Mexico, rely on standing dead trees for nesting cavities—and some fire management and logging practices do not leave enough of these snags standing, which limits breeding sites for these species. As a group, we designed a top priority project involving demonstration sites in all three regions (North America, Mexico, and Central America) where different landscape-level forest management practices can be tested and their effects on bird populations measured. Such a large-scale, multi-national cooperative research effort is new, unique, and exciting. The Latin American presence at the conference was salient outside of work hours as well. Following daytime meetings and evening networking and social events, someone always managed to find some speakers and then the salsa music would begin! I met folks from Klamath Bird Observatory’s international partner organizations for the first time—Luis Morales of the San Pancho Bird Observatory in Nayarit, Mexico, and Pablo Elizondo from Costa Rica Bird Observatories—and I enjoyed a few turns around the dance floor with each of them. There was even an open mic night, where people read poems and performed songs (often bird-themed) in both English and Spanish. I was most impressed by the collaborative atmosphere at the conference and the international partnerships that formed as people joined together to help save our shared birds.