oin us on an adventure to support bird science conservation beyond borders!
Register Now for the III edition of our Fundraising Field Trip: 13-22 August 2025.
If you love tropical birds and hiking in the mountains, listen closely. Over the course of ten days, you will be exploring wildlife and natural landscape, birding with local ornithologists, visiting national and state parks, and getting involved with local conservation efforts to protect birds and habitats at Atlantic Forest. If that wasn’t enough, the cost of this special trip will help fund the intern exchange program between KBO and OAMa and support the continuation of the bird monitoring program on the Mantiqueira Highlands in Southeast Brazil!
It is estimated that only 3,000 individuals of this declining subspecies remain. The small population size of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow is well-documented, but the causes of its at-risk status are not. As with all migratory birds, population trends may be caused by factors on their breeding grounds, wintering grounds, or migration stopover areas.
Since 2018 Klamath Bird Observatory has been trying to understand the cause of this subspecies’ decline. Getting a snapshot of how many of these birds there are in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument – and where they are – is important baseline data. This information will be especially important if the Oregon Vesper Sparrow is listed as federally endangered or threatened – it is currently in review with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. Read todays article to learn about how many KBO found.
The year is almost over and soon it will be 2025. To get ready for the new year KBO is searching for its 2025 field technician crew for its point count program. The avian point count surveys will take place from April 28th through July 18th, throughout the ecologically diverse and beautiful regions of southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California. Technicians will conduct work related to multiple projects including monitoring effects of oak and conifer forest restoration on species distributions and long-term monitoring on both private and public lands.
Plus check out how the 2024 season went! We are very thankful for our excellent point count crew this year, who put in an amazing effort to collect high-quality data throughout the region, while also navigating life in the field. In 2024 they recorded over 29,000 individuals of over 200 different species on surveys. At Klamath Bird Observatory, we are happy to have another successful season on the books and are looking…
With the release of the new Federal Duck Stamp comes a new Klamath Bird Observatory Conservation Science Stamp. The Duck Stamp is one of the most successful conservation initiatives in history. Since 1934, some $800 million has gone into that fund to protect more than 5.7 million acres of habitat on refuges. Conservationists buy duck stamps because they know that 98 percent of the cost goes directly to conserve wildlife habitat vital for many birds, fish, mammals, plants, and you and your family – and future generations. When you add on a Klamath Bird Observatory Conservation Science Stamp you are also supporting bird conservation partnerships, monitoring, and education.
In 2023, KBO with with research colleague Linda Long, Frank Lake, Karuk Tribal Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Technological University, and others to publish new findings on how life cycles of culturally significant birds could inform the timing of prescribed fire. On May 17th 2024, Hilary Clark a Public Affairs Specialist for the Forest Service at the Pacific Southwest Research Station wrote this wonderful article on the work that of these partners. This KBO article is a reposting of Hilary’s article originally posted on the USDA website. The original link can be found in the article.
On February 23rd, Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network was featured in the Rogue Valley Times. A $13-million effort to restore health to oak tree habitat in the Lake Creek area east of White City and near the Table Rocks north of Medford is in its second year.
So far, the thinning of conifers that were competing with oaks has taken place on about 200 acres near Lake Creek and on 100 acres near the Table Rocks. The community of Lake Creek is located about 12 miles east of White City, near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
The work, known as the Upper Rogue Oak Initiative, is due to take place on 3,650 acres — nearly 6 square miles — of private and public land, all but 250 acres of it near Lake Creek. Partners include state and federal agencies, along with conservation organizations, functioning under an umbrella group known as the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Initiative.
The project is slated to take six years to complete.
Join us for a delightful evening with KBO and Mantiquera Bird Observatory (OAMa) at a potluck on November 30th from 4 to 7 pm. Discover the incredible work OAMa is accomplishing in Brazil for bird conservation as founder Luiza shares the importance of international partnerships. Engage in lively conversations with KBO staff and board members, and be the first to learn about the exciting 2023 fundraising trip to Brazil and the plans for 2024.
And there’s more! Look forward to a special guest appearance by the neighborhood screech-owl. This is a free, in-person event located at 114 Granite St., Ashland, OR. Come savor delicious food, make new friends, and immerse yourself in captivating stories. We can’t wait to share this enriching experience with you!
This spring marked the 4th year of our Purple Martin project. Klamath Bird Observatory has partnered with USFS and USGS to learn more about the western subspecies of Purple Martin. Our goal this year was to place GPS tags on 8 adult Purple Martins in order to track their migration routes and learn more about where they spend the winter.
Each spring, KBO conducts a large-scale point count surveying effort to collect data on abundance, habitat use, and bird communities. Many species can only be surveyed during their breeding season when they establish territories and are easily detected by their unique songs. To take advantage of this, our point count surveys take place within a narrow window during the spring breeding season. With the help of a fantastic team of seasonal point count technicians, KBO completed another successful season of surveys this year.
Pacific Southwest Research Station and Klamath Bird Observatory ecologists recently published new findings about using life cycles of culturally significant birds to inform the timing of prescribed burns in the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion of Northern California and southern Oregon. The research was a collaborative effort with partners from the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Technological University, and others.
