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Montana News
2025 Checklist-a-day Challenge
In 2024, eBirders submitted more than 12.7 million complete checklists—a record-breaking testament to the passion and dedication of birders worldwide. Every checklist, whether it captures feeder birds or elusive species, plays a vital role in understanding bird populations.
2024 Year in Review: eBird, Merlin, Macaulay Library, and Birds of the World
2024 was a year of achievements for eBird, Merlin, the Macaulay Library, and Birds of the World. The global birding community set incredible benchmarks for scientific data collection.
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Tracking Montana’s Grassland Birds: Research and Restoration in the Bitterroot Valley
Grassland management, songbirds, and the University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab (UMBEL) The Bitterroot Valley, just south of Missoula, exemplifies Montana’s iconic beauty. High mountain peaks, snow-capped and jagged, provide a dazzling backdrop to fertile ranchlands, farm fields, and rural communities below.
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Sandhill Cranes and Baird’s Sandpipers: Lake Helena part 3
Join field biologist and naturalist Shane Sater for the third and final installment of his Lake Helena IBA podcast series. Listen here: Sandhill Cranes and Baird’s Sandpipers: Lake Helena part 3 (available in English and Spanish) In this episode, take an audio tour of the late-summer birds found at Lake Helena, one of 42 Important […]
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Of Bitterns and Bank Swallows: Lake Helena IBA, part 2
Immerse yourself in the sounds (and sights!) of Lake Helena Important Bird Area, joining field biologist and naturalist Shane Sater as he continues his explorations of local marshes and shorelines in his latest podcast episode. Listen here: Of bitterns and bank swallows: Lake Helena, part 2 (available in English and Spanish).
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Research in Action: Studying the effects of mine-waste contamination on riparian songbirds in Montana
Bridger Creel has known for a long time that they wanted to work in bird conservation. After completing their undergraduate degree in 2019, they worked for two years as a field technician, with the University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab (UMBEL) assessing songbird community responses to restoration efforts, and the Raptor View Research Institute banding […]
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Exploring Montana’s Lake Helena IBA
When the summer heat keeps us indoors and away from our favorite birding locations, there are many ways to experience Montana’s nature from the comfort of home. Shane Sater, a bilingual field biologist and naturalist, shares the sights and sounds of bird life at Lake Helena in a recent episode of his podcast, Wild With […]
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Celebrate the Avian Diversity of Southwest Montana
Southwestern Montana features a variety of habitats, ranging from rocky canyon slopes along the Missouri River, to open shrublands, up through forested mountain slopes, and down to vibrant riparian areas where spring warblers and orioles sing from towering cottonwoods. For its 23rd Wings Across the Big Sky bird festival, Montana Audubon aims to celebrate these […]
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Introducing a new bird to the flock: UM Professor Dr. Thomas Riecke
Earlier this year, the University of Montana welcomed Dr. Thomas Riecke as the James K.
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Learning the Secrets of the Secretive Black-Billed Cuckoo
If you live in Montana, hearing the staccato call of the Black-Billed Cuckoo is a rare treat. Seeing one is even more extraordinary.
