Fri, Nov 21 2008
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Published May 22, 2007 01:01 am - Volunteers help map birds’ health By Keith Purtell Phoenix Staff Writer For the 15th year, members of the Indian Nations Audubon Society are banding local birds.
The group volunteers each year to assess the health and population of local birds. Joyce Varner, 68, said she and her husband, Donald, 69, joined seven other “birders” for the project at Fort Gibson Waterfowl Reserve. Watch a video here. “I feel like I’m contributing to the totality of scientific knowledge of birds,” she said. “And it’s great to be out in the woods close to nature.” The Indian Nations group will go out a total of eight times this summer, and they expect to handle approximately 200 birds. On Monday, they processed and released 40 birds. The yearly assessment is part of MAPS (Monitoring Avian Production and Survivorship). MAPS is a project of the Institute for Bird Populations, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The birders set up fine mesh nets approximately 6 feet high and 40 feet wide, which are supported vertically to catch flying birds. “We check on their health and give them a physical,” Varner said. “If they are not already banded, we put on an aluminum band imprinted with a number.” Peter Pyle, staff biologist with the Institute for Bird Populations in Point Reyes Station, Calif., said MAPS data has a variety of uses. “We’re trying to assess variations in productivity and information on trends,” he said. “There are conservation implications. People are using their data to find out if birds in their region are declining or expanding.” Pyle said agencies doing land management are often interested in MAPS data. So are groups monitoring the condition of the environment. “Many people consider birds the best subjects for that,” Pyle said. “Both individually and as populations, birds are sensitive to their environment. They’re also the easiest group (of animals) to study, because they’re abundant and easy to catch.” More info To learn more about bird banding, go to http://www.birdpop.org/ 
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