U.S. Geological Survey

Ask a waterfowl hunter what a bird band means to them. You might be surprised to know that waterfowl hunters treasure the bands they collect from their harvest, as well as the information they learn when they report the band. These same bands are also crucial for scientists to track populations,...

Stepping carefully among the woody debris at the base of the ravine, Kate Bocskor, senior fish and wildlife biologist at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, scanned the moist earth for a rare salamander. This is the part of being a wildlife biologist that drew her to the field: exploring...

Explore the latest innovative prevention and treatment strategies in development to combat white-nose syndrome in bats.

In late April, the Service’s Digital Strategists as well as additional outreach and communications employees were recognized for their year-long efforts to celebrate the Endangered Species Act turning 50 years old.

What’s a yellow rail, you ask? They are about the size of robin, but skinnier and with short tails; they are stealthy and shy (except when they’re not – read on); they are streaked with dull yellow and dark brown, dappled with white flecks, like water-splashed old grass and the sedge that it...

Lake trout populations in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are rebounding, but wild-produced lake trout are still rare to find. Scientists are determined to uncover the cause.

In the Great Lakes, lake sturgeon have become as rare as a mythical lake monster. Learn how we're monitoring their populations in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey signed a formal agreement for the NABat program, supporting effective bat conservation measures.

On the screen appears a map of Northern Nevada with a slice of Eastern California. Diamond shaped markers are peppered across the map signifying recovery projects for Lahontan cutthroat trout. Faith Machuca, a Lahontan cutthroat trout recovery ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in...

Plunging into the icy waters of North America's coasts, sea ducks navigate a world unseen by most. Despite representing a significant portion of the continent’s duck species, these unique marine birds are among the least understood. Yet, unlike other waterfowl, many sea duck populations have...

By far, the coolest part of this project is capturing and tagging the birds! Biologists head out into the night like stealth bird-spies, creeping slowly and quietly in wetlands so as not to spook the birds.

Deputy Director Steve Guertin was pleased to present awards to the 2021 and 2022 Presidential Migratory Bird Federal Stewardship Awardees: The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Delaware Bay and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health...

In the Pacific Northwest, recent research has linked the range-wide decline of the once common Western bumble bee to climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with partners to research bumble bee ecology to conserve them in the face of a changing climate.

An exciting partnership in the Central Flyway is using GPS telemetry to unravel the mysteries about Northern pintail migration, breeding, and wintering patterns across North America.

When people think about the southwestern United States, most picture arid deserts and mountainous areas, however southwestern states including Arizona and New Mexico also contain riparian woodlands and wetlands that many species rely on. One of those species is the Chiricahua leopard frog.

Thirteen years ago, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana exploded. Images of the fiery explosion and oiled wildlife were plastered across television screens and newspapers as 134 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean. Even after coverage of the spill lessened, many...

Bats benefit people and our planet in many ways. Bats help farmers by consuming insect pests, which improves crop yields and reduces pesticide use. Nectar-feeding bats pollinate plants, and fruit-eating bats disperse seeds in tropical forests. Spectacular bat flights generate ecotourism dollars....

On Feb.8, 2023, the Bureau of Land Management Alaska and the government of Saga City, Japan formalized a sister site relationship between Qupałuk (KU-pah-luck), Alaska and Higashiyoka-higata, Japan. This relationship strives for continued collaboration, research, and capacity building between these...

Through grants from the National Science Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are teaming up to develop a new treatment to boost bats’ immunity to the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome as...

It’s no secret that plant pollination is vital for human life. It’s necessary for countless other plant and animal species as well, and bees perform the majority of it worldwide. Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops — which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition — are pollinated by...

As part of a national effort to respond to a changing climate, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has identified a number of priorities and objectives that aim to unify the Service’s approach to climate adaptation and mitigation.

This year, the Service’s Southwest Region Science Applications Program and Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, USGS, the American Bird Conservancy and other partners are launching a new landscape-scale Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) protocol to help quantify the effectiveness of a...

When we think about landscape conservation, we tend to think big – big problems that require big solutions. But sometimes, it’s the little things that have the greatest impacts. The beating wings of a small butterfly might just be what is needed to save our nation’s grasslands. The butterfly is...

We often capture birds that were banded from previous years; these could have been birds banded by us previously, or birds that were banded by another permitted bird bander in a different region. Along with the approximately 400 newly banded birds at our station this year, we also recaptured 67...