Point Count Update – Hiring for 2025 and 2024 Wrap Up

Hiring 2025 Point Counters

Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking seasonal field technicians for the 2025 breeding season to complete avian point count surveys 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. Surveyors will work in northeastern Oregon conifer forests, eastern Oregon sagebrush habitat, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Oregon Caves National Monument and/or Crater Lake National Park. Applicants should be able to identify a wide variety of western bird species as they may be working in various habitats including coniferous forests, subalpine, oak woodlands, and shrub-steppe. Primary responsibilities will include conducting multispecies avian point count surveys, vegetation sampling along off-road transects following standard protocols, and associated data entry.

Read the full job description and how to apply here. 

Point Count Wrap-Up

Written by Elijah Hayes

This last spring, Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) completed its 24th point count season. With the help of a fantastic crew of seasonal technicians under the guidance of KBO staff Tom McLaren and Samantha Webb, we were able to complete over 3,000 point count surveys between May and July as part of our ongoing large-scale surveying effort. Through this program, we are working to collect data and monitor trends in bird populations, understand the effects of restoration on birds and their habitats, and with this data help to inform management decisions to restore healthy ecosystems across the region.

In order to gather data to support these objectives, surveyors visited sites throughout Oregon, northern California, and Washington to gather data to support these objectives. To conduct surveys, technicians typically drive out to their site the evening before to start surveying at dawn the next morning, covering anywhere from 6 to 25 points per route. At each point, all birds heard and seen within a set number of minutes are noted, and observers estimate the distance to each bird. This allows us to calculate the probability that a bird is detected and account for birds that remain silent or hidden during our counts. Surveys are conducted during the peak of the breeding season when birds have arrived from their wintering grounds and are establishing territories and singing loudly, making them easier to detect and identify.

Long-term Monitoring

Many of our surveys are part of long-term monitoring projects conducted with a variety of partners. One such partner is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and our partnership with them includes surveys in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, post-fire monitoring at the Quartz wildfire, and large-scale monitoring throughout eastern Oregon as part of the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) project. Surveys in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument are designed to monitor long-term trends in bird populations and communities, and this year Lazuli Bunting was the most common species detected, continuing the trend from the inception of the project. However, getting out to visit remote sites like these can result in some more unexpected observations – this year, California Thrasher, a rare species in Oregon, was found on surveys for the second year in a row.

Another of our long-term monitoring projects is located within the footprint of the 2001 Quartz wildfire, providing a unique opportunity to study post-fire restoration and recovery. KBO conducted surveys at this site for 10 years following the fire, and this visit was the first return to the route in 14 years. This year, Black-headed Grosbeak, Nashville Warbler, and Steller’s Jay were the three most often seen species.

With 56 IMBCR routes covered across bird conservation regions in Eastern Oregon, KBO is contributing to one of the largest breeding bird monitoring programs in North America. Observers on these routes recorded over 1,000 Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, and Brewer’s Sparrows as well as three species of owls. A variety of sagebrush-reliant species were also detected on surveys, including Sagebrush Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, and Gray Flycatcher, each was observed a couple hundred times. The sagebrush ecosystem is facing many threats, including habitat fragmentation, changing fire regimes, and the encroachment of invasive grasses. This has led to major declines in many species that rely on this habitat and makes these annual monitoring efforts increasingly important.

One of our longest-standing collaborations is with the National Park Service (NPS), conducting long-term monitoring of bird populations within six national parks in the Klamath bioregion. This is the 16th year of the partnership, and we surveyed Lassen Volcanic National Park and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Both of these parks have seen large-scale wildfires come through in recent years, with the Carr Fire burning over 97% of Whiskeytown in 2018 and the Dixie Fire burning 69% of Lassen Volcanic in 2021. Several of our routes within the parks were impacted by fires, which gives us a unique opportunity to study how bird communities have responded and will continue to respond to these changes. Spotted Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, and Mountain Quail were the most commonly detected species at Whiskeytown, and Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin, and Western Wood-Pewee were the most frequent detections at Lassen Volcanic.

Our final long-term monitoring site visited this year was the Salmon River, which we surveyed in partnership with the Salmon River Restoration Council (SRRC). SRRC is completing riparian restoration projects along the north and south forks of the river. Black-headed Grosbeaks and Steller’s Jays were common finds along these routes. Additionally, Yellow-breasted Chats – unique and charismatic birds who enjoy dense riparian habitats, and are also a focal species in riparian habitats and a species of special concern in California – were present in good numbers.

Ecological restoration

Outside of long-term monitoring, we also have several projects focused on ecological restoration and its effects on bird communities. This season included our second year of surveys monitoring bird responses to oak restoration as part of the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network’s Upper Rogue Oak Initiative (UROI). We are collecting pre-treatment data before the restoration of over 3,000 acres of oak habitat. As early as 2026, surveyors will return to collect post-treatment data, allowing us to monitor bird response to the restoration efforts in a ‘Before-After Control-Impact’ study. The effects on bird communities on treatment sites will be compared to the effects on ‘control sites’ that go untreated. Birds can act as indicators of restoration success, and changes in the presence or abundance of species that depend on healthy oak ecosystems, such as Acorn Woodpeckers, can provide valuable information about ecosystem response to treatment. In this year’s round of surveys, Lazuli Bunting, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Western Tanager were the most commonly detected species. Partners In Flight focal species such as White-breasted Nuthatch, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Acorn Woodpecker were detected in lower numbers. There was also a single recording of Northern Pygmy-Owl on surveys, another focal species that is not often detected due to its secretive habits.

This year also saw continued and new collaborations with the US Forest Service, including a new project to create species distribution models in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington. Surveyors in the area recorded hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Chipping Sparrows, while also having encounters with unique species like the American Goshawk, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, and even a couple Spruce Grouse. Another new project set out to conduct baseline monitoring in Malheur National Forest and extend KBO’s recent work in the Northern Blue Mountains. Surveyors here were greeted by Mountain Chickadees, Western Tanagers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Dusky Flycatchers. Finally, we continued working with the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to conduct landscape-level baseline monitoring and conifer fuel reduction surveys. The top observed species on these projects were the Hermit Warbler, Hermit Thrush, and Western Tanager, and less common species such as the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Black-backed Woodpecker, and American Goshawk were exciting additions.

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 forward to learning more from the data we have collected.