[cobirds] CFO's Year of the Pinyon Jay - And How You Can Get Involved

For CFO, 2023 is the Year of the Pinyon Jay.

In 2023 Colorado Field Ornithologists (CFO) are offering several ways to make an impact for Pinyon Jays. This species has been declining in population range-wide. From 1967–2015, population levels fell an estimated 83.5%. In 2022, Defenders of Wildlife petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the species federally listed as threatened or endangered species.

Surveys
CFO has had two Zoom presentations in the last few months on the state of Pinyon Jays as well as a request for community scientists to participate in community science survey efforts. On December 22nd we heard from John Boone of the Great Basin Bird Observatory, kicking off CFO's partnership with them (among other partners) to survey Pinyon Jays in Colorado. On February 8th we also heard from Amy Seglund and Liza Rossi (from Colorado Parks & Wildlife) about Pinyon Jay phenology and how community scientists can help with Pinyon Jay breeding surveys. Videos of both of these presentations can be found on Colorado Field Ornithologists' Pinyon Jay related presentations playlist on our YouTube channel.  The pdf of the CPW slide presentation can be found here. 

If you are interested in participating in either of these surveys, we strongly suggest looking over our Pinyon Jay Community Science Project page on our website for additional information, guidelines, and resources. IMPORTANT: If you document Pinyon Jay breeding behaviors in an area, please immediately leave the area and do not disturb breeding birds. Birds will readily abandon nests if disturbed and you can inadvertently attract predators to a colony.

Financially Support Research Efforts
We're pleased to announce that the beneficiary of CFO's 2023 Colorado Birding Challenge (which takes place May 20, 2023) is a research project, led by Emily Macklin and Dr. Amanda Cheeseman (and in partnership with USFWS, BLM, and CPW) to identify locations of Pinyon Jay colonies and to further map areas of high-quality nesting habitat across Colorado, ensuring woodland management is consistent with Pinyon Jay recovery. So start to assemble your teams and stay tuned for the official kickoff to our popular Colorado Birding Challenge!

Over the next few months there will be additional opportunities to review the protocols and understand opportunities to provide more in-depth field work.

Photo credit: Jim Merritt

Linda Lee

Louisville, CO

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