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Field Notebook
The Rough-legged Hawk
By Harry Fuller, Klamath Bird Observatory Board President The Rough-legged Hawk is the signature species of Klamath Basin in winter. It’s not as large as either eagle, not as abundant as Red-tailed Hawks, not as singular in flight path as the Northern Harrier, slower than either Prairie Falcon or Peregrine, it doesn’t form eye-catching monotone […]
Saving Birds with Coffee: The View from Nicaragua’s Highlands
By Scott Weidensaul, Author and Naturalist This article first appeared on the American Bird Conservancy Blog. Migratory birds—which must overcome so many natural challenges as they journey from one end of the globe to another—are having a much harder time overcoming the obstacles that humans have added to the mix: habitat loss, environmental contaminants, climate […]
What’s Your Story, Swainson’s Thrush?
By Robert Frey, Klamath Bird Observatory Research Biologist While the information collected from banding birds has many and varied values, what can really excite a bander is catching a bird with a band that looks odd or unfamiliar. The band might have a strange number, which makes you think the bird was banded far away, […]
Violet-green Migration
By Harry Fuller, Klamath Bird Observatory Board President 25 August, 2013 Our only strictly western swallow in America is moving south, as it does each year. An early arrival each winter (many show up here in southern Oregon in March with the Tree Swallows), the Violet-green is also an early departer. The Violet-green is closely […]
Paddling for Bird Conservation
By Brandon Breen, KBO Science Communications and Outreach Recently, I went paddling for bird conservation on the Trinity River in northern California. I traveled here for ten days as a biologist for the Klamath Bird Observatory; my job was to conduct bird surveys by kayak along several stretches of the river, along with my field […]
Junco on the Move
22 July, 2013 By Brandon Breen, KBO Science Communications and Outreach An Oregon Junco originally banded in the Central Valley of California (on 19 January, 2008 by Point Blue Conservation Science, formerly PRBO) reappeared four and a half years later, on 10 October, 2012, at a Klamath Bird Observatory banding station located 20 miles east/northeast […]
Ovenbird Pays Surprise Visit
By Robert Frey, KBO Research Biologist 16 July, 2013 KBO biologists captured, banded, and released an Ovenbird today at our Upper Klamath Lake field station – a species rarely encountered in Oregon. It was determined to be an after-hatching year bird (hatched in 2012 or before), age and sex unknown. The Ovenbird is considered a […]
Close Encounters of the Woodpecker Kind
Close Encounters of the Woodpecker Kind By Harry Fuller, Klamath Bird Observatory Board President I learned two things today about White-headed Woodpeckers: (1) The “white” head is not all white up close and (2) the male has a brood patch as well as the female, meaning he helps incubate eggs. How did I find out? […]
Sage Grouse Sunrise
Harry Fuller, KBO Board Member Up at 4AM. On the road before 5AM. Parked on a dirt road in sagebrush country before 6AM. It’s 34 outside, fingers turn numb because the windows have to be open to shoot pics. Four male Sage Grouse are on the lek. The huffing, puffing, dancing and bellow notes of […]
White-eyed Vireos Visit Costa Rica
By Pablo “Chespi” Elizondo, Costa Rica Bird Observatories Executive Director Background: Klamath Bird Observatory and USDA Forest Service Redwood Sciences Laboratory have a long-running international capacity building program that is supported by the Forest Service’s International Programs. Costa Rica Bird Observatories is one of the most notable success stories. Emerging from monitoring effort that began […]

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