Tag: Featured

Ask your Cashier to Round Up!

Starting March 1st thru the 31st, you can round up your change at the Ashland Food Coop to support Klamath Bird Observatory. Just ask your cashier!

Klamath Bird Observatory achieves bird conservation in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the ranges of our migratory birds. Emphasizing high-caliber science and the role of birds as indicators, we inform and improve natural resource management. Recognizing that conservation occurs across many fronts, we nurture an environmental ethic through community outreach and education. We owe our success to committed donors, volunteers, staff, and partners who demonstrate that each of us can contribute to a legacy of abundant bird populations and healthy land, air, and water.

Thank you for your support!

Bird Banding Program Manager Job Announcement

Klamath Bird Observatory seeks to fill a Bird Banding Program Manager position with primary responsibilities to support ongoing avian long-term monitoring and applied ecology studies that advance bird conservation. The Program Manager will oversee all aspects of our long-term (>25 years) bird banding program, which currently includes the operation of six constant-effort bird banding sites from May through October and the application of a regional dataset that represents decades of demographic data collection at over 50 locations. In addition, the Program Manager will provide project support for species-specific studies that include auxiliary marking (e.g., color-bands, data loggers, transmitters, etc.) and biological sampling (e.g., feathers, blood, cloacal swabs). Job duties include personnel management (e.g., recruitment, supervision, and ongoing banding training for a seasonal crew of domestic and international student interns); management of KBO’s multi-facility Upper Klamath Field Station; data management and quality control; statistical analyses; report and manuscript writing; community and scientific presentation; program development and grant writing, and ongoing partnership building. KBO’s banding field crew is based in the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon, and fieldwork requires regular camping at remote banding sites. This position has split duty stations (six months in the Klamath Basin, Oregon, and six months in Ashland, Oregon) and requires regular travel throughout southern Oregon and northern California.

Job Title: Bird Banding Program Manager (Full Time)
Salary: $49,500 to $53,000 &15% cash benefit (in lieu of health coverage)
Location: Ashland, Oregon
Application Date: Posted February 1, 2023; Accepting applications until filled

To Apply

Please send a cover letter, resume, writing sample (report or manuscript), and three professional references to Jacob McNab (jmm@klamathbird.org).


Full Job Description 2023 KBO Job Announcement Banding Program Manager

Cover photo is a Western Bluebird taken by Frank Lospalluto.

Nest Searching Technician and Internship Available

KBO is looking to fill two positions Nest-Searching Technician and a Nest-Searching Intern for our Oregon Vesper Sparrow demography research program. We are contributing to a range-wide study to understand the causes of decline in this imperiled subspecies. Primary duties will include nest-searching and color-band resighting in meadows of the western Cascades and occasional data entry or other tasks based.

Oregon Vesper Sparrow with color bands (c) Frank Lospalluto
Oregon Vesper Sparrow with color bands (c) Frank Lospalluto

Over the last several years, KBO field crews spent their spring mornings diligently watching Vesper Sparrows go about their business. The birds typically arrive from their wintering grounds in mid to late April and begin to settle in for the summer breeding season. We have witnessed the males defending their territories and attracting mates, watched as they paired up and the females began nest building, and observed them incubating their eggs and raising their young (for an intern’s account of his experience nest-searching, read his blog on the KBO Call Note). Field crews have located over 100 nests! Preliminary findings suggest nest success is within the expected range for a ground-nesting bird and likely not a cause for concern, although late-season hail and snow in 2021 caused the failure of many nests. Changes in spring weather patterns may exacerbate threats to this species in high-elevation meadows.

Resighting efforts have taken place annually to keep track of how many of these banded birds survive and return to the area year after year. Early findings show lower return rates for juveniles, which is not surprising because young birds are more likely to leave home and disperse to a different site for their first breeding season. After resighting efforts are completed in 2023, we will estimate the annual survivorship of adult males and females and fledglings. Join us in the endeavor to understand the Oregon Vesper Sparrow!

The full job description for Nest-Searching Technician is available here.

The full job description for Nest-Searching Internship is available here. 

Point Count Technician Job Announcement

Description

Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking seasonal field technicians for the 2023 breeding season to complete avian point count surveys from May 1st through July 21st 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 conifer forest restoration on species distributions and long-term monitoring in private and public lands. Surveyors will work in northeastern Oregon conifer forests, eastern Oregon sagebrush habitat, Redwood National and State Parks, and/or Lava Beds National Monument. Applicants should be able to identify a wide variety of western bird species as they may work in various habitats, including coniferous forests, oak woodlands, montane meadows, 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 season’s onset. Camping independently, often at undeveloped or dispersed sites, will be required for most work. A small number of sites 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, but in certain cases, surveyors may need to use a personal vehicle to travel to work sites. If technicians are required to drive their private vehicles, mileage reimbursement will be provided.

Salary

$1480/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.

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 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.

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. Offers are contingent on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health and safety mandates throughout the field season.

KBO Point Count Technician Job Announcement 

Cover photo White-breasted Nuthatch (c) Frank Lospalluto


Technicians must be willing and able to adhere to strict health and safety guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the duration of hire. Effective June 21, 2021, and until further notice, KBO will require that all Employees and Student Interns be fully vaccinated for COVID‐19 and be able to provide proof of vaccination status.

Contact

Klamath Bird Observatory
541-201-0866
PO Box 758
Ashland, Oregon 97520

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KBO is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization. Charitable donations to KBO are tax-deductible.
Tax ID# 93-1297400

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