Author: Elva Manquera

Glen Woolfenden Award 2019

Written by Elva Manquera on December 21, 2021. Posted in KBO Awards.

In 2019, the North American Banding Council (NABC), award John Alexander with the Glen Wooldfenden Award. John served on the council for 13 years and was chair for 4 of those years. He helped shape NABC to be a leader in sound and ethical banding techniques. John represented NABC at various ornithological forums, helping NABC gain the recognition it has today. With the donation of his own time and resources of the Klamath Bird Observatory, NABC was able to achieve goals and priorities it would not have otherwise. John pioneered the efforts to lead training and certification sessions in Latin America. By training and encouraging countless banders, he enhanced the science and ethics of the entire banding community including the eight current members serving on the council.

The Glen Woolfenden Award is eligible for outgoing NABC council members. In recognition of outstanding service and contribution to the Council. Glen Everett Woolfenden, PhD., long-time AOU representative to the NABC, was one of the original supporters of the NABC and was important in garnering support from the ornithological community for this endeavor. He served on the publications committee from its inception and chaired that committee for several years. The NABC publications benefited greatly from his superb editing skills. Those of us who worked with Glen will miss his humor, professionalism, and attention to detail.

KBO’s International Capacity Building fosters training and information exchange throughout the Americas. Our international programming includes recruiting student volunteer interns from outside the US for our banding training program, participation in international banding training projects, and research collaborations and technical support partnerships with bird observatories in Latin America and the Caribbean. Long-running partnerships with US Forest Service International Programs and Oregon State University make this work possible.

Bird Banding Internship

Written by Elva Manquera on December 20, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note.

Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking highly motivated individuals to participate in our long-term landbird monitoring program. This position requires independent drive and patience for the travails of fieldwork but also affords an amazing opportunity to build practical experience in field biology and master a variety of bird monitoring and research skills in a beautiful part of the country.

Our bander training program blends an intensive field internship with coursework designed in accordance with North American Banding Council (NABC) standards to prepare participants for successful careers as field ornithologists. Training and duties will include mist-netting and banding of passerines and near passerines; bird surveying; data quality-assurance, entry, and management; and participation in public outreach and education. Non-field duties include study and discussion of banding curriculum, equipment maintenance, field station upkeep, and data entry. Accommodation is provided in shared rooms in a rustic cabin on the Upper Klamath Lake which has potable running water, a full kitchen, internet access, a wood stove, and electric space heaters, and an external bathhouse. Hiking and birding opportunities abound nearby with access to bikes and kayaks. Weekly visits to remote sites will require multi-night camping trips and brief strenuous hiking carrying heavy banding equipment. Click here to learn more about the internship.

Bird Banding Internship

Written by Elva Manquera on December 20, 2021. Posted in uncategorized.

QUALIFICATIONS: Successful candidates will demonstrate a strong interest in birds and field biology, possess a positive attitude during long days and occasionally adverse conditions (heat, cold, mosquitoes, smoke), work cooperatively and constructively toward project objectives, give priority to safety considerations, make common-sense decisions about wildlife (bear, cougar), and be able to work and live harmoniously in close company with coworkers. To preserve the quality and consistency of our long-term dataset, interns must also be able to precisely follow protocols and take meticulous care in collecting and recording data. Excellent communication skills are critical. Interns are required to possess a valid Driver’s License and clean driving record to use provided field vehicles for project-related travel. Preferred qualifications include outdoor skills, sight and sound bird identification skills, bird handling, and banding experience. This position requires early mornings (pre-dawn), weekends, and the ability to follow a work schedule that is dependent on the changing weather and unpredictable field conditions. Interns must be willing and able to adhere to strict health and safety guidelines for banding safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective June 21, 2021, KBO will require that all Employees and Interns be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and be able to provide proof of vaccination status.

STIPEND: $750 Monthly plus accommodations.

Durations: May 1st – October 31st

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Ongoing until the position has been filled. Offers are contingent on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health and safety mandates throughout the field season.

TO APPLY: Send cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references in a single PDF document to Bird Banding Research Biologist, Claire Stuyck (cms@klamathbird.org).

Avian Internship Memorial Fund — In Memory of Patricia Buettner

Written by Elva Manquera on December 17, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note, KBO Family, Press Room.

The Avian Internship Memorial Fund (AIM Fund) was started by the friends and family, of longtime KBO partner Patricia Buettner (Patty). The AIM Fund helps support KBO’s long-running internship programs by providing matching annual donations.

Patty Buettner’s Family and friends have established this annual fund in her honor. During her life, Patty was personally and professionally committed to wildlife conservation and made significant contributions to the field. Among them was her formative influence on the creation of the Klamath Bird Observatory. Patty was responsible for the 1st federal grant, offered by the Bureau of Land Management, that KBO received to enable the creation of our Upper Klamath Field Station, and in doing so, encouraging the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation to become regular supporters of KBO’s research, monitoring, conservation, and education programs in the Klamath Basin. Through her vision, Patty seeded what has now grown into decades of partnerships with federal agencies, NGOs, businesses, community members, and political representatives in the Klamath Basin. To read more about Patty click here.

By donating to the AIM Fund, you are helping KBO to continue educating young scientists interested in avian conservation. These funds help cover housing, supplies, travel costs, stipends, and other internship needs. Click here to donate.

Don’t Miss the Last KBO FUNdraiser of the Year!

Written by Elva Manquera on December 15, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note, Press Room, Trips & Events.

For our last event, a special online holiday workshop, we have unlimited capacity! On Thursday, December 16th learn how to animate Snoopy and Woodstock. Larry Leichliter, former PEANUTS director and accomplished animator, will host a live-action tutorial. Join us for th isfamily friendly event. Registration is open to an unlimited number of participants. Since this is a FUNdraising event, we ask registrants to make a donation of their choice, use code PIF2021 to register for free. CLICK HERE to learn more and to register now.

Conservation Stamp Set

Written by Elva Manquera on December 10, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note, Conservation, KBO Partners.

Each year, KBO offers a Conservation Stamp Set for purchase with proceeds supporting both national and regional conservation efforts. The two-stamp set includes:

1) The Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (the Duck Stamp), and

2) KBO’s Conservation Science Stamp.

The stamps feature art from Richard Clifton and Gary Bloomfield.

CLICK HERE to order your stamps now!

Perks: With the stamps you receive free access to National Wildlife Refuges that charge fees and discounts on some KBO events.

The Federal Duck Stamp is among the most successful conservation tools ever created. Duck Stamp sales contribute directly to habitat conservation on our National Wildlife Refuges. KBO’s Conservation Science Stamp builds on this success by bringing additional support and attention to our regional science-driven conservation efforts.

By purchasing this set of conservation stamps, birders and hunters alike contribute directly to conservation efforts that benefit all birds. Together we are a powerful voice for conservation and together, by purchasing the Conservation Stamp Set, we are saying:

We believe conservation of non-game birds, gamebirds, and endangered species is a priority for our society.

Klamath Bird Observatory’s 2021-2022 conservation science stamp features our partner Avian Knowledge Network (AKN). The AKN’s mission is to support a network of people, data, and technology to improve bird conservation, management, and research across organizational boundaries and spatial scales. We envision a world where bird populations thrive through conservation and management informed by a network of avian knowledge. AKN does this by providing science-based information about bird populations and habitats to inform natural resource management planning and to advance ecosystem conservation. To learn more about the AKN visit Avian Knowledge Northwest, a regional node of the AKN.

Using Motus Technology to Inform Conservation of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow

Written by Elva Manquera on December 6, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note.

Handheld radio telemetry antenna detects tagged birds away from the main Motus station.

Fall 2020 saw the installation of the very first Motus station in Oregon at the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve in partnership with the Vesper Meadow Education Program. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a collaborative research network using automated radio telemetry stations to study the movements of small organisms. Tags are small enough to be carried by birds, bats, and even bees. Motus tags emit a radio frequency that can be detected by a nearby Motus station anywhere in the world, and the number of stations is quickly growing.

We are using Motus technology to enhance our ability to track movements of the at-risk Oregon Vesper Sparrow. In 2021, we searched for nests of this ground-dwelling bird at Vesper Meadow, and placed Motus- compatible LifeTags on 12 Oregon Vesper Sparrow nestlings that were nearly ready to fledge. LifeTags are solar-powered and emit a signal every few minutes during daylight hours for the lifetime of the bird. The automated “resighting” and location estimation from this new technology will help us study habitat use, movements, and survival of young birds during the post‐fledging period when they are particularly vulnerable, and explore dispersal of birds returning to nearby meadows next spring. We also set up an array of 18 Motus nodes around the edge of Vesper Meadow to supplement our main Motus station there. Four of the nodes formed a mini-grid around two of the nests with tagged nestlings, and this will serve to pilot the use of this technology to track precise fledgling locations and habitat use. We collected tens of thousands of detections of our tagged fledglings from the node network over the months of June-October – and likely a lot of radio frequency “noise” from other stray signals – and we look forward to sorting through and analyzing those data this winter.

Adult Oregon Vesper Sparrow at the Lily Glen field site. (c) Frank Lospalluto

The Oregon Vesper Sparrow is a subspecies of conservation concern, and it has been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act due to its low population size and declining trend. We have noted low rates of fledged young returning to our field sites at Lily Glen and Vesper Meadow for their first spring as breeding adults. Motus technology will help us determine the cause – are young birds having trouble surviving the vulnerable post-fledging stage, or their risky first round-trip migration and winter? Or are they simply moving away from the meadows where they were born and choosing other nearby meadows to try raising their own young? A handheld radio telemetry antenna will allow us to more easily locate any tagged birds that disperse away from our main field sites to other nearby meadows next spring.

In addition to enhancing our Vesper Sparrow research, the Motus station at Vesper Meadow has detected two Lewis’s Woodpeckers migrating from MPG Ranch lands in Montana, one Swainson’s Thrush that was banded in interior British Columbia, and a Western Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover from coastal British Columbia – so the station is assisting other researchers with their migration tracking projects as well! Our Motus station, node network, and tagging effort were made possible by the USFWS, MPG Ranch, Oregon Wildlife Foundation, and private donations.

Click here to learn more about our work with the Oregon Vesper Sparrow.

Seasonal Point Count Technician Positions- Now Open!

Written by Elva Manquera on December 7, 2021. Posted in Klamath Call Note, KBO Science.

The Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking seasonal field technicians from May 2nd through July 15th (some positions available through July 29th), to complete point count surveys throughout the diverse and beautiful regions of southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California. Technicians will work for multiple projects consisting of monitoring effects of oak and stream restoration and long-term monitoring in both private and public lands. Surveyors will work in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon Caves National Monument, eastern Oregon sagebrush habitat, and more. Applicants should be able to identify a large variety of Western birds as they may be working in a range of habitats including oak woodlands, riparian areas, coniferous forests, montane meadows, and shrub-steppe.

To learn more about the position and apply click here!

Elva Manquera-DeShields, MS

Written by Elva Manquera on January 25, 2022. Posted in KBO Staff.

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, OUTREACH, AND DEI MANAGER Elva joined KBO in December 2021. She works closely with the KBO team to communicate their work across social media platforms, websites, and news outlets. She leads outreach projects involving the local and international community with bird conservation. Elva helps lead KBO’s DEI mission internally and with our partners.

Elva received her Bachelors of Science in Zoology from Oregon State University in 2012. where she became passionate about conservation during her work with amphibian diseases. She got her Master’s of Science from Southern Oregon University in Environmental Education. During her masters, Elva interned at KBO helping to organize the 2018 and 2019 Wings and Wine Gala. Before returning to KBO she was the program manager of another local nonprofit.

Tom McLaren, MS

Written by Elva Manquera on October 19, 2022. Posted in KBO Staff.

Field Technician – Tom McLaren joined KBO in October 2022 to support the Point-Count Program focused on the long-term monitoring of bird populations.

Tom received his MS in Biology from the University of Colorado Denver in May 2022. His research focused on understanding Clark’s nutcracker habitat use in Yellowstone National Park, particularly concerning the species’ coevolved mutualism with whitebark pine. Additionally, Tom performed analyses to determine the effectiveness of a long-term monitoring protocol for Clark’s nutcracker in the park. Since graduating from Montana State University with his BS in Fish and Wildlife Management, Tom has worked for various agencies including the National Park Service, California State Parks, and Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Tom’s work has taken him to many exciting areas across the Rocky Mountain Region and the Northwest.

Click here to contact Tom McLaren