White-crowned Sparrow in song. 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 will help 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 thousands of acoustic birdsong recordings that were collected at our preserves over a week-long period. This data will provide a baseline of bird use and help us improve the long-term survival of Western Washington forest bird species through forest habitat improvements.
Volunteers will be provided with an instruction manual 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 runs from now through March 2024. Volunteers will need access to a reliable internet connection. Experience with identifying birdsong is helpful, but not necessary. Each song may take as little as 10 seconds to manually verify. Volunteers are asked to contribute a minimum of three hours 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.
