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Montana News
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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.
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Clark’s Nutcrackers: Last call for Whitebark Pines?
When you hear the words “whitebark pine”, what images come to mind? For many, hearing the name of this iconic tree evokes a sense of remote wilderness, the hush of alpine solitude, or the whispering of wind along a rocky treeline.
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Home on the Range
Across North America, birds breed on grasslands grazed by domestic cattle. However, much of this region was once occupied by vast herds of American Bison (Bos bison).
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On the Move
Pine Siskins, commonly found in Montana’s open-canopied evergreen and mixed evergreen-deciduous forests, move from place to place in search of abundant conifer seeds. These seeds are produced in cone crops that vary in abundance across time and space; in a single year, a cone crop in one area might be limited—or fail entirely—while in another […]
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"Baling" Montana's Osprey Out of Trouble: The Dangers of Baling Twine
As temperatures cool across Montana and we bid bon voyage to many of our feathered, warm-weather residents—we also say a temporary goodbye to a local icon. Western Montana’s Osprey begin departing for warmer climes in mid-September.
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To Be or Not To Be (a Hybrid Chickadee)
Chickadees are the epitome of a backyard bird. Of the seven species of chickadee that typically occur in North America, four of them call Montana home.
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Environmental Challenges and Reproductive Success in Harlequin Ducks
Born epic adventurers, Montana’s Harlequin Ducks migrate latitudinally each year, between breeding sites in turbulent, glacially-fed streams of the Rocky Mountains and a wintering range on the rough, coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean. Amphibious swimming skills make these birds seem as at home below the surface as they do above.
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Spotlight on Erin Keller, Aeroecologist
People often associate birds with the places they come to rest or feed. But really that’s just a small part of many birds lives, with most of their time spent on the wing.
