Pinyon Jays have a classic symbiotic relationship with the pinyon pine. Harvesting and caching its seeds serves as an agent of dispersal, and the nuts serve as a rich food resource for the birds, as long as the trees produce more nuts than the birds need each year. Photo by Bobby Wilcox.

After the snow and subsequent muddy roads, our #Nevada #PinyonJay surveyors journeyed south for their second tour to spend time in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge to explore the Sheep Range. They found themselves traveling through Joshua tree forest, transitioning to pinyon-juniper habitat.

Pinyon Jay lovers and community scientists - we're heading out for a cone survey! If you're in/near the Reno area on August 30th, we'll be leading a cone-counting #communityscience event, as we document the cone crops that are important to so many wildlife species.

Hunkering down to wait out the storm… #NevadaPinyonJays #FieldCampFriday

Pinyon Jays are the sole species in the genus Gymnorhinus, Latin for “naked nose,” since they lack feathers covering the base of their bill. As a result, their bills do not get gummed up with resin from fresh cones, and they can capitalize on that resource earlier in the year than other birds can.

What you doing this evening?! We're heading to the Hideout tonight! Join us, 5-8pm, as we take over the bar for a great cause!

The 2025 Nevada Pinyon Jay crew began training on March 3rd. Monitoring sure got off to an interesting start with a surprise snowstorm (ok, not a TOTAL surprise, but it was sure more than we bargained for). #PinyonJay #monitoring #Nevada 1/2

Pinyon Jay lovers and community scientists - we're heading out for a cone survey! If you're in/near the Reno area on August 30th, we'll be leading a cone-counting #communityscience event, as we document the cone crops that are important to so many wildlife species.

Training for our 2025 Arizona Pinyon Jay crew began in mid-February! Pinyon Jays begin courtship behavior and colony formation in winter, so our Pinyon Jay projects get started much earlier than other breeding season field work.

We're taking over the Hideout Lounge next week! Are you in/near Reno, want to have fun, drink some beer, and support a great cause? Come out to the Hideout Lounge, August 27, from 5 to 8 pm!

Surveying for Pinyon Jays is hard but fun, and requires navigating highs and lows of field life, from frozen camps & hiking through rugged terrain, to bogglingly beautiful sunrises & fun wildlife encounters. Our resilient surveyors make this work possible, & we look forward to sharing our findings!

We're taking over the Hideout Lounge next week! Are you in/near Reno, want to have fun, drink some beer, and support a great cause? Come out to the Hideout Lounge, August 27, from 5 to 8 pm!

Pinyon Jay lovers and community scientists - we're heading out for a cone survey! If you're in/near the Reno area on August 30th, we'll be leading a cone-counting #communityscience event, as we document the cone crops that are important to so many wildlife species.

We're taking over the Hideout Lounge next week! Are you in/near Reno, want to have fun, drink some beer, and support a great cause? Come out to the Hideout Lounge, August 27, from 5 to 8 pm!

We’re celebrating another successful #PinyonJay #monitoring season! In 2025, we hiked & surveyed northern #Arizona, across #Nevada, and throughout #NewMexico's national forests. Our surveyors recorded sightings and behavior, and in NV and AZ also surveyed colony sites and documented nests.

How are human-altered habitats affecting birds' migratory routes? And what is the role of age and wind conditions? We tested this for an #endangered #Eagle authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... 🐾🧪🪶 @yaelbird.bsky.social @talavgar.bsky.social @currentbiology.bsky.social #conservation #ornithology

This fun story about new findings on Streaked Shearwaters' surprising pooping habits quotes WOS member Hugh Ellis. #ornithology

Light pollution is causing birds around the world to sing for longer each day, prolonging their vocalizations on average by 50 minutes, according to a new study in Science. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Uz7vzP

As we continue working thru the (physical and virtual) piles o' data we collected this field season, we'll start sharing some of our Pinyon Jay work with you all over the coming days! In the meantime, here is a #MuleDeer fawn checking out our camera in nw #Nevada! #FieldCamFriday #NatureIsAwesome

One of the fun things about setting up all these ARUs and field cameras across #Nevada, is discovering just how many chipmunk species there are! Also fun: finding out how many species like to perch on cams & ARUs … like this Cliff Chipmunk! #TrailCamTuesday 1/2

Hey! It's #TrailCamTuesday! The current site being processed so far appears to be 7000 photos of cheatgrass waving in the wind. But the previous site had some fun ones, including this #Pronghorn! #mammals #thankgoodnessforaudiobooks

We picked up the last of our ARUs* and field cameras last week! Massive storms coming through - nothing like racing lightning thru the high country while carrying metal fenceposts! But the views were spectacular, and we even spotted Bald Eagles!, 1-2 adults & a juvie.

Researchers at Point Blue & @unevadareno.bsky.social are studying how #peat forms in rare Sierra Nevada fens (peat forming wetlands cover < 0.5% of Sierra Nevada land area). Peat holds water, stores carbon, & keeps records of ancient climates & ecosystems. But how deep does peat go? 🌎🧪🌐

The #NevadaBirdCount crew finished up our season here in the Pine Forest Range, in far northern Nevada (near Denio Junction). The spot-mapping overlay of our automated recording unit array documented a number of family groups (particularly Rock Wrens and Mountain Bluebirds) … and beautiful views!

Really appreciate this whip-poor-will chick aging chart - and agree that Megan Gray's photo of a brooding female with chick is amazing! :)

Liam Corcoran's study of whip-poor-will nesting ecology yielded new baseline data on how the chicks of this elusive species grow and develop. #ornithology

It was a successful field season for GBBO's Pinyon Jay, desert thrasher, Nevada Bird Count, IMBCR, and outreach programs. Over the coming weeks, we'll share some of the highlights from the past few months! Can you hear the Pinyon Jays calling here at our Masonic Mountain project area, in e. CA?

One of our major projects this year was deploying ARUs (automated recording units) and field cameras on habitat monitoring sites - along with doing in-person surveys. Here's one of our survey sites north of Elko, not far from the Mary's River. #Nevada #publiclands

Our guide to bees of Pennsylvania is available for free now, you can order print copy (just have to pay shipping) and/or download PDF from Penn State Extension page: extension.psu.edu/bees-of-penn... For every one of the 47 bee genera we have beautiful photo(s) and natural history facts

Hello again from Nevada! Long time no post :) The #NevadaBirdCount & #IMBCRbirds field seasons finished up last week meaning the data processing portion of the year has begun in earnest. However, photos of sunrises are nicer than photos of datapiles, so here you are, from north of Elko, Nevada!

It's quiz time! Anyone know what kind of feather this is? (We’ll be back a little later with the answer, if you want to wait!) #birds

Happy Mothers Day! 🦊

Through decades of monitoring we have learned that the upper El Dorado and Piute valleys in far southern #Nevada are a stronghold for Bendire’s Thrashers in NV and LeConte’s Thrashers in the world. #desertthrashers #conservation #birds 1/2

It's BioBlitz time! Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, south of Las Vegas is a gem at any time, but spring is particularly amazing. Explore the Monument and collect valuable data! April 25-27, at Walking Box Ranch. www.gbbo.org/calenda...

This spring, GBBO is partnering with the Arizona Game & Fish Department to attach satellite tags to #desertthrashers. We hope to find out, what happens to displaced thrashers after utility-size solar is constructed on their territories. If washes are left intact, will the thrashers still use them?

Outreach has been an important aspect of our desert thrasher program. We aim to raise awareness of these birds at all levels through volunteer programs, survey trainings, and workshops. #desertthrashers #citizenscience #conservation

In 2023, DTWG partners captured and tagged the first LeConte’s Thrasher ever banded in #Nevada, the first in an ongoing study examining how these nonmigratory birds use the landscape at different times of year. #desertthrashers #banding #conservation

In uncertain times, information and experience become even more critical for the conservation of birds and their habitats – now and into the future. Join us, and support the science today to help create a better tomorrow. Thank you! www.gbbo.org/support... #EarthDay #conservation

One of our proudest achievements at the Desert Thrasher Working Group is the Conservation Strategy for Desert Thrashers. That document and more can be downloaded at the DTWG website. borderlandsbirds.org... #conservation #partnersinflight #desertthrashers #birds

In uncertain times, information and experience become even more critical for the conservation of birds and their habitats – now and into the future. Join us, and support the science today to help create a better tomorrow. Thank you! https://www.gbbo.org/

Anyone else need to see some #goodnews?! A sea full of seals, a cute pup, and an encouraging graph ... a great way to wind down the work week. Have a great weekend, everyone! #NorthernFurSeals #mammals #conservation

Beginning in 2017, GBBO biologists co-authored standardized survey protocols for desert thrashers and managed a rangewide survey effort in the United States, including implementing surveys in #Nevada. #conservation #birds #desertthrashers 1/2

It's BioBlitz time! Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, south of Las Vegas is a gem at any time, but spring is particularly amazing. Explore the Monument and collect valuable data! April 25-27, at Walking Box Ranch. www.gbbo.org/calenda...

Zoom with us tonight, 6pm Pacific, as Carl talks about Pinyon Jays & conservation in the eastern Sierras!

As active participants in the Desert Thrasher Working Group since its inception in 2011, GBBO has been at the forefront of desert thrasher conservation. Learn more here! borderlandsbirds.org... #desertthrasher #partnersinflight #conservation #birds

Excited! You never know what you're going to find, what you're going to learn. Plus beautiful vistas, great hikes filled with birdsong, and amazing people :*). Have a great field season!

Tomorrow is our earbirding jaunt out at McCarran Ranch, along the Truckee River. Join us for a fun birdwalk and learning to identify birds by ear! www.gbbo.org/calenda...

Bendire’s Thrashers are #birds of open, arid woodlands. In #Nevada they prefer Joshua Trees, but their habitats look different in the Sonoran Desert, Chihuahuan Desert, Sonoran thornscrub of Mexico, or even the juniper savannas of the Colorado Plateau! Photo by Bobby Wilcox #desertthrashers

LeConte’s Thrashers build their nests of sturdy sticks & place them in thick, often pointy vegetation such as this cholla. They line the nest with soft white fluff, & when they are just getting ready to lay their eggs, they decorate the rim with fresh yellow flowers. #desertthrasher #birds #nests

Interested in Pinyon Jays & conservation? Of course you are! :) Carl Lundblad will be presenting his work on Pinyon Jay habitat selection & holistic conifer management in the eastern Sierras. Join us Thursday, April 17, 6pm, at Rosewood Nature Study Area. Learn more: www.gbbo.org/calenda...