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2024 Point Count Technician

Job Description

Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking seasonal field technicians for the 2024 breeding season to complete avian point count surveys from April 29th through July 19th 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 the 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, and/or Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Applicants should be able to identify a wide variety of western bird species as they may be working in a range of habitats, including coniferous forests, mixed chaparral and oak woodlands, and shrub-steppe. Primary responsibilities will include conducting multispecies avian point count surveys and vegetation sampling along off-road transects following standard protocols, and associated data entry. Other tasks may be assigned if time permits. Field training on protocol methodology and distance estimation will be provided at the onset of the season. Camping independently, often at undeveloped or dispersed sites, will be required for most work. A small number of sites may also require overnight backcountry camping. Experience and comfort with backpacking to sites will be discussed and agreed upon prior to the field season and is not required for every position. Several field vehicles are available for use, but surveyors may need to use a personal vehicle to travel to work sites. If technicians are required to drive their personal vehicle, mileage reimbursement will be provided.

Qualifications

Well-qualified applicants should have at least one full season of avian point count field experience. Applicants should have a full range of hearing, be in excellent physical condition, and be comfortable working and camping independently. Required qualifications include the ability to identify western birds by sight and sound, hike in steep and rugged off-trail conditions, follow standardized field protocols, collect and record meticulous data, communicate with coworkers effectively, work independently in remote forested areas, work in inclement weather conditions, and tolerate working in areas containing poison oak. Surveyors must possess good map reading, GPS, and orienteering skills and be eager to work long days in the field. Applicants must have a valid driver’s license, a clean driving record, and insurance.

Salary

$1528/bi-weekly, plus reimbursement for mileage at the federal rate if required to drive a personal vehicle. An additional completion bonus of $1000 will be provided at the end of the field season.

To Apply

Send a cover letter (including dates of availability and vehicle type), resume, and contact information for three references in a single PDF document to Tom McLaren (thm@klamathbird.org).
Hiring will be ongoing until all positions have been filled. It is Klamath Bird Observatory’s policy to provide a work environment free from unlawful discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, expunged juvenile record, performance of duty in a uniformed service, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance. Additional employment opportunities and information about Klamath Bird Observatory can be found at: https://klamathbird.org/about-kbo/careers-and-opportunities/.

Photo Barn Swallow by Frank Lospalluto. 

Brazil Trip Registration Open

A fun, adventurous, and engaging way to support bird and habitat conservation beyond borders

Jaime Stephens, KBO Director of Conservation and Luiza Figueira, Mantiqueira Bird Observatory Executive Director

We invite you to join the directors of Klamath Bird Observatory and Mantiqueira Bird Observatory for a 10-day adventure exploring the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. The trip will be held August 20-29, 2024. During the trip, you will:

      1. Visit natural landscapes and enjoying scenic places;
    1. Hike through a diversity of habitats;
    2. Observe birds and wildlife in nature;
    3. Experience local culture;
    4. Learn about birds, bird observatories, and international conservation;
    5. Support Klamath Bird Observatory and Mantiqueira Bird Observatory science based conservation beyond borders intern exchange program

Klamath Bird Observatory is well known for its broad international reach, focusing on partnerships and capacity building across the ranges of our shared birds. KBO’s bird banding internship program has trained over 283 interns from more than 17 countries. OAMa is a fruit of this capacity-building program, which is now running its training program in Brazil. As part of the continued partnership between these two observatories, we are pleased to announce a new internship exchange program! After training in their home country, biologists will have the opportunity to visit and train at the other observatory. KBO will host a student from OAMa for three or six months each year, and OAMa will host a student from KBO for up to three months at their field station in Brazil, joining the local crew at the year-round bird monitoring on the Mantiqueira Highlands.

In addition to supporting the intern exchange program, this trip will fund OAMa’s banding station for an ENTIRE YEAR! That includes six interns and one banding coordinator. Currently, OAMa is the only banding training program in Brazil.

The cost is $5750 per person which includes in-country transportation, single-occupancy lodging, and meals with limited alcoholic beverages – the flight to Brazil is not included. The cost with a double occupancy discount is $5250 per person.

A $ 3,500 deposit is required to reserve your seat. Final payment is due 6 months prior to departure; proof of up-to-date COVID vaccination and liability waiver are also due at that time. Both the deposit and final payment are non-refundable. A portion of the cost directly supports the intern exchange program between the two bird observatories and is tax-deductible. Maximum trip size is 11 participants; some activities will split into smaller groups. We reserve the right to cancel before January 20th if the trip does not fill with a minimum number of attendees. Trip activities will include moderate walking, sometimes on uneven trails, and away from facilities for half to full days.

2024 Trip Itinerary

If you have questions, you can email Elva at ejm@klamathbird.org.


Registration: Trip to Brazil 2024

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The cost includes in-country transportation, lodging, and meals with limited alcoholic beverages - the flight to Brazil is not included. A $3500 deposit is required to reserve your seat. Final payment is due 6 months prior to departure. Both the deposit and final payment are non-refundable. A portion of the cost directly supports the intern exchange program between the two bird observatories and is tax-deductible. Maximum trip size is 11 participants; some activities will split into smaller groups. We reserve the right to cancel before January 20th if the trip does not fill with a minimum number of attendees. Trip activities will include moderate walking, sometimes on uneven trails, and away from facilities for half to full days.(Required)

KBO tracks the first Western Purple Martin with GPS tag technology

By Sarah Rockwell

Spoiler alert: Our first recaptured Martin flew almost 8,000 miles to southeastern Brazil and back again!

Retrieved GPS tag – photo credit Joe Metzler

The unique western subspecies of Purple Martin is of conservation concern, roughly estimated at just 3,500 pairs. Relatively little is known about the Western Purple Martin compared to the more abundant eastern subspecies. One of the biggest challenges in identifying ways to help migratory species is that we simply don’t know where they are most of the year. Western Purple Martins breeding in Oregon are only here from about April to August, and until recently, we only had the slightest idea of where they spend the non-breeding months. From 2020-2023, a small team of researchers from KBO, USFS, USGS, and Cape Arago Audubon Society captured adult Western Purple Martins and outfitted them with lightweight archival GPS tags that fit like a backpack with two leg loops to track their movements. Our goal is to track martins that nest in Oregon to discover their migratory pathways and winter roost locations and assess whether conservation actions are needed at these non-breeding sites. This is the first study of its kind with the western subspecies and the first to track them with GPS technology throughout the year!

There is one important catch – to have a battery small and lightweight enough for a small songbird to carry safely, the tags cannot transmit GPS data, only store it on board. Returning tagged birds must be recaptured following a year-long round-trip migration to retrieve the tag and its precious geospatial data. It can be very challenging to find these birds again, not to mention recapture them! So, we were thrilled to recapture our first female, whom we nicknamed Roxa (‘purple’ in Brazilian Portuguese – pronounced more like “hosha”), in the summer of 2021.

Joe is watching for Purple Martins to return to their nesting boxes. Photo Credit Karen McGuire.

Roxa returned with fascinating information, revealing new discoveries about her incredible 8,000-mile journey. After she left her nesting area in coastal Oregon in August, Roxa first headed south to Baja California, where she spent about a month from mid-Aug to mid-Sept on an extended fall stopover – although somewhat unusual for a songbird, this long pause was not totally unexpected, as it matched hints from earlier research using geolocators on a few martins from British Columbia (Fraser et al. 2017). She then continued south through western Mexico, with GPS points taken every 5 days, including stops in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela before entering Brazil, where she passed over many of her Eastern Purple Martin cousins in their wintering area in the Amazon. She then spent another multi-week stopover in late November in northern Minas Gerais, near Parque Nacional do Peruaçu – which was unexpected! Roxa finally completed the last leg of her trip to the southeastern Brazilian coast, where she spent Christmas in Linhares in the state of Espírito Santo. She even made it to the beach city of Praia do Morro in time for Carnaval before winging her way back north and graciously returning her GPS tag to us.

Joe uses a specialized pole that traps the Purple Martins in their nesting box so the box can safely lowered and the Martins extracted. Photo Credit Karen McGuire.

We now have an amazing window into what Roxa and other Western Purple Martins are up to after they leave Oregon and the incredible voyages they undertake. These insights also lead us to more questions. Why does she stop for so long in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Minas Gerais, Brazil? Could she be molting and regrowing feathers at one of these locations where the insect food resources are especially abundant? Does she use the same route every year, and do other Western Purple Martins use similar or different routes? What changes are occurring in the habitats she occupies along the way? Are any of these places threatened by deforestation, pesticide use, or other conservation challenges? We hope to apply what we have learned to help make sure the Western Purple Martin’s migratory journey, connecting people and places across continents, remains a phenomenon we can all marvel at well into the future.

Female Purple Martin recaptured – Photo credit Joe Metzler

In summer 2023, we recaptured two more returning Purple Martins with new data to add to our understanding of their migration routes and winter homes – we are so excited to process these data and see how they compare to our first recapture! We also deployed 8 more GPS tags on Purple Martins nesting at Fern Ridge Reservoir near Veneta, OR. Those individuals have finished their nests for this summer and will be leaving soon for parts unknown – but a little less unknown than before – so we will also have more chances to add data to this study next summer.

The USFS, USGS, Purple Martin Conservation Association, and the Greenfield Hartline Habitat Conservation Fund supported this work. The research team comprised Sarah Rockwell from KBO, DeAnna Williams of USFS, Joan Hagar of USGS, and Joe Metzler from Cape Arago Audubon Society. Watch the short video On the Wings of Roxa and join her 8,000-mile journey.