What's New in 2007

Our Birds' Eye View Program was in full-swing this past summer, with 3 banding stations:  Rock Creek, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, and the Clark Fork Coalition's Dry Creek Ranch near Galen, MT.  These were all run as part of the MAPS program in coordination with the Institute for Bird Populations, and all our data will be forwarded there.   

Details of our educational program are available on our Birds' Eye View Program web page.  We will have a final report including summaries of our banding data by December 2007. 

Banding 2006 - Beavertail Hill State park, MT

This summer our banding program ran a new station at Beavertail Hill State Park 27 miles east of Missoula, as a pilot season for our new Birds' Eye View Program.  The Seeley Lake station (see below) is now on hiatus after five awesome years. 

Banding 2005 - Seeley lake, MT

In the summer of 2005, the ASC formed a partnership with Kristina and Ty Smucker's Wings in the Wetlands Program to sustain the operation of their bird banding station in a wetland preserve at the north end of Seeley Lake in Western Montana.  This banding station was open to the public – by getting up close and personal with wild birds, visitors were provided with a unique learning experience.  This banding station operated for 5 years, and was a tremendous success – in just 7 banding dates each summer our Program reached over 500 visitors of all ages.  

The Wings in the Wetlands Program’s goals are to: 1) increase public knowledge of birds and their ecology through interactive learning experiences, 2) provide opportunities for public participation and involvement in ongoing wildlife research and monitoring efforts, and 3) raise awareness of the importance of habitat, particularly wetlands, for maintaining diverse populations of birds and other wildlife.

Read about our findings in our FIVE YEAR REPORT

The Wings in the Wetlands Program is made possible through the dedication of numerous volunteers and through the support of cooperators including the Avian Science Center, Plum Creek Timber Company, the US Forest Service, and the Institute for Bird Populations.

The banding station at Seeley Lake is operated in accordance with the standardized protocol of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program. Data collected from an extensive network of MAPS stations, over 500 throughout North America, are summarized and sent to the Institute for Bird Populations to be included in their long-term data set. Cumulatively, MAPS stations provide data on the abundance and distribution of birds, and allow monitoring of population and demographic parameters (productivity and survivorship) over time and at multiple spatial scales (i.e., local, regional, and continental).

Read about Wings in the Wetlands in the July 14, 2005 Daily Interlake!