The sheer joy of sharing a moment, up close and personal, with a bird, and then watching it return to the wild, is at the heart of what makes every bander love their job. But the really big deal is figuring out how to effectively use the information obtained from “banding” — what we call this process of capturing, putting something on and/or taking something off, assessing, and then releasing birds – to better protect the birds that we love.
Meredith McBurney of Bird Conservancy of the Rockies showing students a banded Sharp-shinned Hawk at the Barr Lake Banding Station. Photo courtesy of Meredith McBurney.
Meredith will take us through the evolving world of bird banding — from the basics of tagging the birds with numbered bands, to cutting edge technologies like automated radio telemetry and genomics. She will share information about what Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and partner organizations are learning that will help us be more successful at conserving birds.
All bird handling and banding is done under state and federal permits and data are submitted to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory.
Visitors watching the banding and measuring of a male Common Yellowthroat. Photo by Paulina Erices.
Meredith McBurney, BCR Bander and Volunteer Coordinator (Brighton, CO)
Meredith McBurney held her first bird – a Black and White Warbler - as a research assistant on an Earthwatch project studying Long-tailed Manakins in Monteverde, Costa Rica in 1997. She began volunteering for Bird Conservancy in 1998, and joined the staff in 2004. Since then, she has been the lead bander at the Chatfield Station in the spring and the Barr Lake Station in the fall, banding about 2000 birds and educating almost as many students and other visitors annually. In the off seasons, she analyzes data and coordinates volunteers. She has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Zoology from Colorado State University.
In-Person Gathering - BCAS welcomes everyone back to in-person programs at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder. Doors open at 7 PM for socializing and the program begins at 7:15. While the church is no longer requiring masks, we encourage you to wear your favorite high-quality mask, and we will provide free surgical masks for anyone who needs one. Please stay home if you feel sick, and watch the program on Zoom!
Online Gathering - The meeting room will open at 7:10, and the program starts at 7:15. Questions for the speaker will be taken from the chat feature of the Zoom session.
Online access info will be posted here by the day of the program.
Two students being able to safely release a banded Gray Catbird. Photo by Kristen Hatgi.