Hiring Point Count Field Technician
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. 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 before the field season and are not required for every position. Several field vehicles are available for use, but it may be necessary for surveyors to use a personal vehicle to travel to work sites. If technicians are required to drive their personal vehicles, 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.
Compensation
Base pay is $19.58 per hour. Field Technicians will receive overtime pay at time and a half (i.e., 1.5 x base pay) if they are required to work more than 40 hours in a given week. 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 term of employment if a full season of surveys and data entry has been completed.
To Apply
Send a cover letter (including dates of availability and vehicle type), a resume, and contact information for three references in a single PDF document to Tom McLaren (thm@klamathbird.org). Please include the location you heard about the position in your email or cover letter. 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.
Non-breeding season movements have never been tracked in this subspecies before, and results from these first three birds are incredibly interesting in their variation. You may have already followed the adventures of Po, Gram, and Affy in our recent series of Facebook posts, where we learned where they traveled during migration, but we will recap the highlights here and below in a video. One male (Po; in green) departed Lily Glen on Sept 19 on what appears to be a “false start” migration attempt – he spent one night about 25 km southwest of Tule Lake and then headed right back to Lily Glen – a behavior that we hadn’t recorded before, and in fact, would have been nearly impossible to observe without the GPS tag data. He left Lily Glen again on Sept 24 and sped down to his wintering grounds in just two days. This was also the only individual for whom we also captured spring migration – Po left his overwintering area on the evening of Apr 9, made two short stopovers just east of Vina, CA, and Redding, CA, and was back setting up his territory at Lily Glen by Apr 15.