Stephanie Coates

Intermountain Bird Observatory · Department of Biological Sciences - Boise State University

Estimating population size and habitat associations of Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Idaho, particularly along the Snake River and its tributaries.

We monitor trends in curlew populations, track nest success in varied landscapes, use satellite transmitters to follow migratory routes and assess spatial movements on the wintering grounds, and measure vegetation and landcover variables associated with Long-billed Curlews breeding in the Intermountain West. Diverse partnerships and collaborations help us to share our research with a broad audience through school programs, media stories, peer-reviewed journals, and public events. Ultimately, our goals are to enhance conservation efforts of curlews through collaborative partnerships, sound science, and interactive outreach and education programs.

Every year in late spring and summer, biologists and technicians travel across the mountains, prairies and deserts of the western U.S. to survey birds under the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program. The program, coordinated by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, is one of the largest of its kind in North America, stretching across public and private land in many states in the western United States. What the Intermountain Bird Observatory and our partners learn through the IMBCR program informs management decisions and contributes to the big picture for bird and habitat conservation. Data gathered as part of the program are available at no cost through the Rocky Mountain Avian Data Center: http://rmbo.org/v3/avian/Home.aspx. Strengths of the IMBCR program include a statistically rigorous design based on random sampling, a broad network of partners that support the program and its reach across many states and boundary lines, including public and private lands. Partners include (but are not limited to) the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, state wildlife agencies and organizations such as the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the University of Montana Avian Science Center and the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. Christian Meny supervises Montana's portion of the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program. Jessica Pollock, Jeremy Halka, and Tempe Regan manage the program in Idaho and Utah.