2025 Avian Technician Internship

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Stations: Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S)

Location: 27.5 miles Hummingbird Highway, Stann Creek

Country: Belize, Central America

Last date to apply: January 7, 2025

Position dates: January 16 – February 28, 2025

 

Description:

The goal of this internship is to give the student various experiences in tropical avian studies that will aid the student in developing their skills for a variety of future education and employment opportunities. The main component of the project will be to work with Ecorana tutors and T.R.E.E.S staff in establishing long-term bird monitoring projects (observational surveys and mark-recapture) that are part of a bigger project looking into seasonality off breeding, moult, and movement (resident as well as neotropical migrants) and how it correlates to insect abundance and plant flowering and seed production.

Interns will learn how to conduct bird transect surveys, point counts, nest searching, and partake in a new owl census project. The bird transects and point count surveys are done once a week once the sun rises. In addition to this, smaller side projects are done in the afternoon. This involves following predetermined transects, where they will learn the visual and auditory identification of bird species on site. The listening points along the transect are used to tally species to gain an understanding of the bird population at different points.  The second project is based on the behavioral study of the White-collared Manakin (Manacus candei) at lekking sites. Interns will observe and document bird behaviors for specific periods of time several times a week. Thirdly, interns will have the opportunity to actively search and document bird nests in various habitats to enrich the resident bird database. Little is known about nesting and breeding time of resident birds; interns will be able contribute to this scientific study. Lastly, interns will be involved in a new owl census project through listening. This project aims to count owls by listening to their calls, providing a unique perspective on nocturnal wildlife populations.

We are looking for interns who are independent yet willing to work in a team environment. Applicants should have a certain level of avian identification skills and should be interested in improving their techniques for proper bird identification and survey methods applicable in the tropics. Applicants should have a desire for learning about the incredible biodiversity of Belize through systematic field surveys and data collection.

Requirements:

No experience in birding is needed, but an interest in birds and wildlife ecology is strongly preferred. This internship is perfect for budding biologists/ecologists and for birders of any level that wish to pursue a career or education in the field. The internship is meant as a resume and skill builder to help interns get experience in the field. Previous participants in our internship programs have had a high rate of employment upon completion.

Tasks

• Learn about tropical birds by sight and sound in the Maya Mountains.
• Learn to use eBird.
• Learn and perform a variety of bird surveys that will be most adequate to answer project questions, including point-counts, callback surveys, transect lines, bird behaviour observational techniques, etc.
• Possibility of learning bird recording techniques.
• Work with T.R.E.E.S researchers, international collaborators, and other interns on the development of protocol design.
• Implement protocols in the field using the help of T.R.E.E.S staff and tutors to find the best places to set-up monitoring plots.
• Be trained in the use of GPS to navigate to and mark point count locations.
• Share knowledge with locals and with other fields.
• Learn to enter data in a systematic manner and compile it into a scientific report with introduction and literature review, methods, results (including basic statistical analysis), and discussion using peer-reviewed scientific articles.
• Work on specific projects depending on time of year; nest surveys, White-Collared Manakin observation, owl surveys, etc.
• Interns will assist with creating captions for social media posts to engage and update followers on what has been going on at the field station and various projects that are being done.
• Depending on involvement in project, may have opportunity to collaborate on future publications.
• Contributing to the production of public outreach material such as posters, pamphlets, or PowerPoint presentations, with the guidance of our biologists and trained staff.

Project Specific Responsibilities:

• The point count and transects require intern to start work at 6:30am.
• For the White-collared Manakin behavioral study, interns will observe and document bird behaviors for specific periods of time several times a week. Once the lek is confirmed as active, the vegetation characterization of the site will be conducted.
• Interns must be able to endure dense jungle conditions to complete the vegetation characterization aspect of the Manakin Project. Intern will walk along transect lines near lekking area to get the percentage of vines, shrubs, and trees in the vicinity.
• Be out in the field 3 hours at a time to walk around the property in search of nests. Must go frequently after nest is discovered to record changes in the nest – chick development. They must be able to collect accurate nest monitoring data.
• Go out at night to play owl calls and record any callbacks from owls nearby.
• Will learn how to identify birds by the end of the internship by sight and by sound.

Internship Period

Interns can choose to do a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 weeks during this Apprenticeship program, though 4 weeks is the recommended duration.

Costs:

This internship has a fee of $389 USD/week which includes room and board (meals included Monday-Friday), full access to lab equipment, and training by professional on-site biologists. Food is not provided as part of the internship program. Interns can also purchase their own basic food supplies from nearby vendors that can be prepared simply on-site without access to a full kitchen OR interns can order meals from the on-site Toucan Café restaurant that is open daily and caters to all dietary restrictions Lodging at the research center signifies a shared dormitory-style rustic cabins with other same sex interns with full access to other facilities such as showers, restrooms, and kitchen.

We are hoping to expand our internship program beyond North America. Citizens from Latin America and the Caribbean will be charged at a discounted rate of 50%. Belizeans will get another discount. For more information, kindly email Scandia Cruz with the email provided above.

Schedule:

Interns will work 5 days per week, typically from Monday through Friday, totaling 35 hours for the week. Sometimes the project assigned to the interns may run through the weekend, in which case the interns will be given back their time during the week. The schedule is designed to be flexible as it depends on which project interns will carry out i.e. early morning bird monitoring or nest searches during the day.  The intern supervisor(s) will be responsible for designing a schedule with the intern each week that is reasonable and includes work on the various projects.

Application:

To apply register on the Ecorana website (https://www.ecorana.ca/internship-application-form/) and e-mail your curriculum vitae/resumé, cover letter, and short video to the T.R.E.E.S Internship Coordinator, Scandia Cruz, at scruz@treesociety.org once you have submitted your application form.

For more information on our organization and facilities please visit our website: www.treesociety.org

Belizeans seeking an internship with us must email the Internship Coordinator with the email provided above to get further information.