Tracking Turkey Vulture migrations

“Boots on the ground—4:15!!” Doug Loney’s booming voice echoed in our ears as we drove away from Desert Rat Studio, in Maricopa, Arizona. We were three days into a week of field work trapping Turkey Vultures as part of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary’s New World Vulture Project. From 1996-1997, SJV Education and Outreach Coordinator Jennie Duberstein … Read more

Sonoran Desert Breeding Bird Surveys: a coordinated approach

By John Arnett, Edwin Juarez and Kurt Licence The Sonoran Desert, an environment with blistering summer temperatures, frigid winter nights, and months of no precipitation, tests many of its residents to the thresholds of their physiological tolerances. Over 60 species of birds breed in this environment and many populations are naturally small and typically at … Read more

2013 SJV Awards Program Recipients Announced

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 SJV Awards Program small grants. Congratulations to all recipients, and stay tuned in the months ahead to hear more about these important projects. Learn more about the SJV Awards Program on the SJV website, including details about projects we have funded in the past and … Read more

New publication on migratory stopover habitat in the southwestern United States

A new study (partially funded by the SJV) has been published by SJV partner Janet Ruth and colleagues in The Condor. They used radar and satellite land-cover data to determine the habitats with which birds are associated during migration stopover. Bird densities differed significantly by habitat type at all sites in at least one season. … Read more

The Best Practices for State Wildlife Action Plans report is now available

This report identifies best practices based on innovations and lessons learned from the years since SWAPs were developed. The best practices may be used voluntarily by state fish and wildlife agencies that aspire to improve conservation work and create greater consistency across SWAPs, thereby making them more relevant to partners and large landscape-level efforts. Download … Read more