Sandhill cranes are among the Grand Teton birds participants may see during an annual event to count migratory birds across North America. (Rob Koelling - click to enlarge)
From Staff Reports
MOOSE, WYO. — A National Park Service ranger will lead a bird-watching caravan to view Grand Teton birds later this month in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day. Participants will help count migrating birds as part of an annual tally that takes place across North America.
Park ranger naturalist Andrew Langford plans to visit areas throughout Grand Teton National Park that provide great opportunities to locate, identify and record birds as part of the North American migration count.
Harlequin ducks spend winters in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest, but they join other Grand Teton birds each summer along swift streams and rivers in the park. (Rob Koelling - click to enlarge)
The field trip to view and count Grand Teton birds begins at 8 a.m. May 12 at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center at Moose. It wraps up around 4 p.m. at Christian Pond near Jackson Lake Lodge. Reservations are not required for this free event.
All of those interested in Grand Teton birds are welcome to participate in the annual bird count and bird-watching excursion. Throughout the day, participants will take short walks at various locations to view and count Grand Teton birds. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and bring a lunch, drinking water, warm clothing and rain gear. Bird field guides, binoculars and spotting scopes are also recommended items.
Raptors are among the Yellowstone and Grand Teton birds of prey that visitors most often look for when touring the parks. But other species of Grand Teton birds include: sandhill cranes, warblers, fox sparrows, yellowthroats, mountain bluebirds, western meadowlarks, harlequin ducks, trumpeter swans, pelicans and mergansers.
“Connecting People to Bird Conservation” serves as the theme for the 2012 International Migratory Bird Day observance. This declaration highlights the event’s 20th anniversary and focuses on 20 ways people can help preserve Grand Teton birds as well as throughout their communities.
Observed each year in May to celebrate and support bird conservation, International Migratory Bird Day serves as the hallmark outreach event for Partners in Flight—an international conservation program whose goal is to reverse declining populations of migratory birds by bringing attention to factors that may contribute to worldwide declines.
For more information about Grand Teton birds or International Migratory Bird Day and the North American migration count, please call the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center at 307-739-3399.
Contact Yellowstone Gate at 307-213-9818 or info@yellowstonegate.com.