Links

Some of Our Favorite Websites

Wild Bird Club  
This site is sponsored by Cornell and Pennington-The Bird Food People.  you can sign up for a montly newsletter that includes a bird of the month, feeding suggestions, kids activities, challenges for all levels of birdsers and more.  There is even a teen birder blog.
Hawk Watch International
Loaded with information from identification help, where to go “hawk watching” and the studies that Hawk Watch International supports – this is a place for raptor enthusiasts.  Jerry Ligouri regularly posts to the blog, many which are identification help related.  You can also follow their Facebook posts to get the most recent posts.
eBird
A real-time, online checklist program, eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.  You have to see it.
eBird Montana
A real-time, online checklist program, eBird and Montana Audubon created a page just for Montana bird sightings.  Go see it.
Golden Eagle Migration Survey
Monitoring raptors and sharing the spectacle of fall migration. The Golden Eagle Migration Survey (GEMS) is a collaborative, science-based effort to monitor the autumn migration of Golden Eagles and other raptors along the Big Belt Moutains of Montana.  The project is conducted by Montana Audubon, Last Chance Audubon Society, US Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Upper Missouri Watershed Alliance
With a focus from Three Forks to Black Eagle Dam in Great Falls, the Upper Missouri Watershed Alliance mission is to protect, enhance, and understand the unique recreational and ecological resources of the Upper Missouri River.
Hawk Migration Association of North America
The Hawk Migration Association of North America is a membership-based organization committed to the conservation of raptors through the scientific study, enjoyment and appreciation of raptor migration.  They collect hawk count data from nearly 200 raptor monitoring sites in the US, Canada and Mexico.  The counts are available in near real time at www.hawkcount.org.
Montana Golden Eagle Research
All in one spot – the Cave Knoll (formerly known as Rogers Pass) Hawk Watch and the Duck Creek Pass Hawk Watch blogs. 
Most bird-friendly yard websites only urge homeowners to add native plants to increase songbird survival.  But the other sites do not show homeowners how to make their yard safe for birds. This website does. Bird window strikes at residences kill hundreds of millions of birds every year. On average, there are two to ten deaths per year at every home. Once you introduce native plants into your yard and start attracting more birds, you also need to put up window strike protection. If you do not, birds will die hitting your windows and undercut the very purpose of your native plantings.  Not just any stencil or design will work – this website is loaded with examples, links, the good and the bad.