The Forest Stewards Guild and Southern Rockies Foresters for the Birds are offering a two-part webinar series this May on the intersection of climate, forest stewardship, and birds! Please register and save the date to learn more about avian research through citizen science, the impact of fuels reduction treatments on the composition of bird species, and the impact of a hotter and drier climate will impact bird populations, especially those with obligate molting grounds in monsoonal areas.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. MT: Bird Communities of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado: A Citizen Science Project
Over the past 5 years, community volunteers from the Weminuche Audubon Society have conducted a study of bird communities in Ponderosa Pine-dominated forested sites that received wildland fuels reduction treatments. This webinar from the Forest Stewards Guild dives into the effects of these treatments, specifically prescribed fire or shrub-layer thinning, on the composition of bird communities in the southern Rocky Mountains, showing that tree canopy and shrub-layer composition and structure have important influences on the number of bird species present and the predominate feeding and nesting behaviors of the avian community.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. MT: Bird Population Trends and Climate Effects in Southwestern National Parks
Climate change is considered a major driver of recent avian population declines, particularly in the drought-stricken southwestern United States. Predicting how bird populations will respond requires understanding the climatic drivers influencing population density across the region’s diverse habitats. In this webinar from the Forest Stewards Guild, Harrison Jones of The Institute for Bird Populations discusses his research modeling breeding-season densities of 50 bird species in relation to spring and summer drought and the timing of North American monsoon rainfall.