workshop Bird Banding classes taught by The Institute for Bird Populations at Wolf Ridge ELC in Northern Minnesota

[Danielle Kaschube]

The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) and Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center are offering several bird banding workshops in Minnesota this summer. In cooperation with IBP, Wolf Ridge will be hosting a beginner class June 20-27 and an advanced class June 29 - July 3rd. This beautiful campus tucked into the boreal forest, along the western shore of Lake Superior, is the perfect place to catch amazing birds and concentrate on all your bird banding skills.

These classes can accommodate many skill levels, from those who have never handled a bird to those with good experience that want to fill in their banding and molt limits and plumage knowledge gaps, all under the eye of an experienced IBP instructor. These classes cover: operation of mist-nets and safe extraction of birds; bird-handling skills; in-hand ageing and sexing techniques; scoring and recording data using MAPS protocol and forms; instruction on the use of the Wolfe-Ryder-Pyle ageing system; avian life histories, energetics, molts, and plumages; banding ethics, the permitting process; and the role of banding in research and monitoring.

The instructor, Danielle Kaschube, is a North American Banding Council certified trainer and has been teaching banding classes for over 20 years. She is always patient, enthusiastic, fun, and thorough in sharing her knowledge about molt, plumages, and ageing with students of all experience levels.

Please visit IBP's Bird Bander Training page for more information about the classes and for registration links: http://www.birdpop.org/pages/birdBandingClasses.php