Varied Thrush in the Quimper Wildlife Corridor. Photo by Wendy Feltham
Jefferson Land Trust is now seeking volunteers to assist with an innovative bird monitoring study we recently launched on several of our nature preserves. Assessing the presence of certain indicator bird species helps us determine whether our forest management activities are succeeding in creating the habitat conditions that birds and other local wildlife need to thrive.
Volunteers are needed to help manually verify acoustic birdsong recordings that were collected at our preserves. This data will provide a baseline of bird use and help us improve the long-term survival of Western Washington forest bird species through improvements to forest habitat.
Volunteers will be provided with written instructions and a pre-recorded Zoom tutorial on how to access the bird recordings through a free online interface, called Arbimon, and shown how to verify the identity of the recorded birdsong with one of our fifteen indicator species, either by ear or using Merlin Bird ID (a free bird ID app) on their personal mobile devices.
This is a home-based, remote volunteer opportunity that will begin on January 7, 2025 and will run through March.
Experience with identifying birdsong is helpful, but not necessary, and volunteers will need access to a reliable internet connection. Each audio clip may take as little as 10 seconds to verify. Volunteers are asked to contribute at least three hours during the project timeline for training and evaluation of the recordings. Additional staff support will be provided to volunteers as needed.
If you’re interested and would like to know more, please contact Jefferson Land Trust’s Office and Preserve Assistant, Cristina, at cvillalobos[at]saveland.org.
