August 2021 Wildlife Log
August in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem marks the peak of summer and the hint of the fall to come. Antler growth amongst deer, elk, and moose is nearly complete, owls and other birds of prey are fledging, wolf pups are are beginning to transition from the den to rendezvous sites, and the bison rut has begun! Check back for more recent sightings from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Bird Banding with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation
Recently, Ecotour Adventures Naturalist Charlotte Catalano was able to join our friends at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation for some bird banding. Charlotte is an experienced bird bander, having worked at stations in New York and Wisconson previous to arriving in Jackson Hole. Since 1991 scientists have been running banding sites in the Jackson Hole, collecting important data which allows them to study long term changes in bird populations. The stations are now part of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, which spans across North America and has collected more than 2.5 million bird capture records to date!
What have we learned from MAPS? Over 100 peer reviewed papers have been published to date using data from this research. One important finding is that the quality of winter habitat, has a major influence on survival and likely reproductive success of birds the following summer. That means in order to sustain bird populations here in Jackson Hole we must look to conserve quality habitat where the birds winter.
When many people think of wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem they often think of our charismatic megafauna, bison, grizzlies, elk, moose or wolves, yet several hundred bird species are also found across this wild landscape. We’re grateful to the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Teton Raptor Center and other organizations for helping us better understand and better conserve our wildlife. Check out the video to experience bird banding with EcoTour Adventure Naturalist Charlotte Catalano.
To learn more about the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation and contribute to their work please visit: https://jhwildlife.org/
Summer Carnivore Update from Naturalist Laura Krusheski
From wolf pups to grizzlies, black bears, badgers and coyotes, we've been enjoying some great recent carnivore sightings. Enjoy this mid summer carnivore update video featuring Naturalist Laura Krusheski. For more video like this one tune in to our monthly Wildlife Round-up on Facebook Live, the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30pm MST.
https://www.facebook.com/jacksonholeecotours/live_videos/
