The Sonoran Joint Venture recently selected its finalists for the 2016 SJV Awards Program. The objective of the SJV Awards Program is to support the investigation and conservation of birds and their habitats within SJV boundaries by providing funds through a competitive program. The Joint Venture is pleased to announce that the following projects were awarded funds for the 2016 cycle:

Citizen Science in the Mojave Desert: Thrasher surveys and eBird avicaching
Point Blue Conservation Science was awarded $9,970.70 to work with the Bureau of Land Management to conduct Bendire’s Thrasher surveys in southeastern California, as well as enhance eBird data on other species in under-birded areas.

Long-term Monitoring of Waterbird Priority Species and their Critical Habitats in the Estuaries and Islands of the Eastern Midriff Region of Sonora, Mexico
Prescott College Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies was awarded $10,000 to continue its multiyear waterbird monitoring program in the Eastern Midriff region.

Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey training workshops in Sonora, Mexico
Southern Sierra Research Station was awarded $8,145 to train Mexican biologists to conduct surveys of Yellow-billed Cuckoos, a bird of regional concern. This will be the second year of a multiyear project of Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey trainings in Mexico.