UW’s WYOBIRD Initiative to Offer Day of Events at Grand Teton National Park

The University of Wyoming’s WYOBIRD initiative will offer bird tours, crafts and educational activities, research talks, and a picnic lunch in Grand Teton National Park Saturday, July 20.

Two women look on as another woman holds a tool up to a small bird in her hand. — Kim Jordan, left, a University of Wyoming master’s degree student from Burleson, Texas, who works in the Tarwater Lab, demonstrates how to measure the wing chord of a bird in hand at WYOBIRD’s fall migration bird banding station in Laramie. Kylie Schelhaas, middle, a UW junior from Cheyenne and an intern at the fall migration banding station, and Kelly Roberts, a UW master’s degree student from Norwalk, Conn., in the Tarwater Lab, observe Jordan’s technique. Photo by Erik Schoenborn.

Events will take place from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the renovated UW-National Park Service (NPS) Research Station. The facility is located at the AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. The first 50 people to attend will receive a free “Birds of Wyoming” book.

WYOBIRD (Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity) aims to advance knowledge, appreciation and conservation of birds locally and globally. The initiative achieves this by conducting novel research on birds; training a new generation of scientists at UW through hands-on training; and sharing science through networking, public outreach, and seminar speakers.

“WYOBIRD is excited to connect with the public during the first outreach day at Grand Teton National Park and to provide a day of fun activities where people of all ages can learn about birds and how important they are to our environment,” says Corey Tarwater, an associate professor in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology, the Robert B. Berry Distinguished Chair in Ecology, and director of WYOBIRD.

The schedule is:

Bird tours, 8-10 a.m.: UW graduate students will lead birding walks suitable for beginners through advanced birders. The multiple tours will cover beginner identification of birds and identifying bird species by song.
Crafts and educational activities, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Attendees can join activities covering bird nests, research methods, bird art, and how to look for birds in backyards. Visits are scheduled at an active field site currently studying pollination and seed dispersal.
Picnic lunch, noon-2 p.m.: The UW-NPS Research Station will provide a free lunch, although a $10 donation is suggested.
Research talks, 2-4 p.m.: Research being conducted on birds across Wyoming and in the tropics by UW students and faculty members will be discussed. Attendees also will virtually experience the sounds of a tropical rainforest.

For more information, email wyobird@uwyo.edu.

This story was originally published on UW News.