The State of the Birds 2025 report has been delivered to the American people by scientists from more than two dozen conservation groups and agencies, including Oregon-based Klamath Bird Observatory. This report paints a concerning picture of declining bird populations in the United States. The report also underscores the significant environmental, economic, and human benefits of bird conservation and birdwatching to millions of Americans.
In partnership with the Umpqua Oak Partnership (UOP), the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON) has released version 3.0 of “Restoring Oak Habitats in Southern Oregon and Northern California: A Guide for Private Landowners”. The funding for this landowner guide was from the Secure Rural Schools Title II program administered by the Bureau of Land Management Western Oregon Resource Advisory Committee.
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.
KBO is excited to be at not one but two World Migratory Bird Day events this year. We will be at Rogue Valley Bird Day this Saturday, May 11th, 8 am – 12 pm at North Mountain Park in Ashland. The day will be chock-full of activities to participate in, with organizers offering bird walks every 15 to 30 minutes from the nature center pavilion; adult’s and children’s binoculars will be available for loan. Check out an article in the Rogue Valley Times about this weekend’s event or visit the Rogue Valley Bird Day website.
The second World Migratory Bird Day event is on May 18th, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Veterans Park, in Klamath Falls. See you there!
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.
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.
The long search is over. KBO is thrilled to announce our new Science Director, Ryan Terrill. Ryan grew up birding in the Santa Cruz mountains of central California and has a life-long interest in birds. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UC Santa Cruz and his Ph.D. in Biology from Louisiana State University, where his thesis focused on understanding how avian molt strategies interact with evolution over time. Click below to read more about Ryan and his role at KBO.
To align KBO’s staffing to meet this forest bird conservation need, we are developing a new conservation delivery program area to help us further focus and scale up our efforts to translate science into even more conservation action. This new program area is poised for success because Jaime Stephens, who has been a leader at KBO for over 20 years, will be taking on a new role as KBO’s first Director of Conservation. Jaime has served as KBO’s long-time Science Director for many years, leading our extensive monitoring and research efforts. As the Science Director, Jaime has worked tirelessly to develop the partnerships and deliver our science, helping to grow KBO’s direct involvement in on-the-ground conservation efforts. These efforts have reached a level that warrants the creation of this new position.
ODFW, in partnership with the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON), received a $2.78 million federal grant from America the Beautiful Challenge program to conduct oak-prairie habitat restoration in the Upper Rogue watershed. The funding comes from multiple federal agencies and complements match funding from private donations designated for landscape-scale conservation work directed by the state, tribal, nonprofit, and working-lands partners.
The federal grant will help support two ongoing oak restoration initiatives. The Upper Rogue Oak Initiative builds on a recently awarded $7 million investment from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and $3 million matching funds to KSON’s Little Butte Oak Initiative. Support for both initiatives will create landscape resiliency and wildlife connectivity. The additional investment expands the initiatives’ geographic reach by restoring 800 acres of oak habitat using prescribed fire, ecological thinning to reduce conifer encroachment, noxious wee…
The updated Partners in Flight Conservation Strategy for Landbirds in Sagebrush-Steppe and Riparian Habitats of Eastern Oregon and Washington (Rockwell 2022) brings forward recommendations to assist the planning efforts and habitat management actions of land managers and stimulate monitoring and research to support landbird conservation. This document encompasses sagebrush-steppe, riparian, and unique habitats in several ecoregions including the Owyhee Uplands, Northern Great Basin (sometimes referred to as Basin and Range), and High Lava Plains in Oregon, the Palouse Prairie in Washington, and the Columbia Basin in Washington and Oregon but also including an extension up the Okanagan Valley to the Canadian border.
