This spring, IBO’s Boise State University PhD student, Madeline Aberg, is working on a project to understand human-wildlife dynamics on the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area near Boise.
Because nest searching requires our team of biologists to spread out and work solo, we are lucky to still be able to conduct some carefully socially-distanced local field work to keep her project moving forward.
The goal of this project is to compliment our Curlew Crew nest monitoring project to discover how a smaller and more abundant ground-nesting bird handles varying levels of human recreational activities.
Horned Larks are one of the earliest nesting songbirds in Idaho, and can often re-nest multiple times per year. So far this season the team has found 25 nests at all different stages, including nest building in progress, nests with eggs, nests actively hatching, nests with older chicks, AND families with already-fledged young!!
*All nests are carefully approached following standard nest monitoring protocols. Photos by Madeline Aberg
