IDFG And Potlatch Corp. Team Up To Study Neotropical Birds

To better understand the impacts of human activities on wildlife, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Potlatch Corporaton have teamed up to study the habits and conditions of neotropical migratory birds. IDFG nongame biologist, Rita Dixon, and Potlatch Corporation biologist, Brian Moser, lead volunteers into Vassar Meadows near Deary, ID, to a station set up in 1996 to determine productivity and survivability of the small song birds that travel from South America to Alaska each year as the seasons change. Called a MAPS station, an acronym for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship, the fixed station is one of over 500 in North America. Each year, bird populations are monitored at these sites. The study consists of capturing birds in several nets strung across a meadow, studying each bird to determine age, sex and weight, and then attaching a metal leg band to the birds so they can be identified if caught by other MAPS stations. "Birds are excellent indicators of the quality and integrity of our natural systems," said Rita Dixon, nongame biologist for IDFG. "The reason we monitor birds is because out of all organisms, birds are the easiest to monitor. Birds are right there. They're singing, they're flying around, they're easy to track." Biologists begin the day at 4 a.m., working quickly to catch as many birds as possible. They carefully remove each bird from the net and place into a white cotton sack. The birds are then processed to determine its sex, breeding status, approximate age, and wing and body fat measurements. "Over the long-term, we hope to use the information from these stations to determine how migrating songbird populations are doing, Dixon said.