Avian Field Technicians - Experienced Bird Banders and Nest Searchers

Title: Avian Field Technicians

Location: Nantahala National Forest, Otto, NC

Job Category: Temporary/Seasonal Positions

Number of hires: 6

Salary: $14/hour (techs) $15/hour (crew leads); housing and work vehicles are provided.

Start Date: April 16, 2024 (negotiable-May be able to start first week of May)

End Date: July 15, 2024 

The Chandler and Rushing Labs are hiring 6 field technicians to assist with a long-term study investigating the impacts of climate change on trailing-edge populations. This study is focusing on Black-throated Blue Warblers, Hooded Warblers, Canada Warblers, Veery, Ovenbirds, Slate-colored Juncos, Eastern Towhees, and Wood Thrush. Technicians will be hired to fill certain positions, but they will have opportunities to assist with all aspects of the project. Available technician positions include experienced nest searchers, lead passerine banders, and banding assistants.

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Experienced Nest Searchers (2-3)

Nest searchers are needed for a long-term University of Georgia study investigating the breeding biology of Black-throated Blue Warblers at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in the Southern Appalachians of western North Carolina. Nest searchers will also locate and monitor nests of other focal species. Position also requires good color vision, ability to identify eastern birds by sight and sound, the ability to hike (on and off trail), navigate, and work alone in rugged terrain and variable weather conditions, and an interest in avian ecology.

Primary Duties:

·      Nest searching/monitoring

·      Banding of adults and nestlings

·      Insect surveys

·      Vegetation sampling

·      Data entry

·      Deploying nest cameras

·      Some tagging of nestling BTBWs, and potentially adult focal species with radio-transmitters

·      Some radio-telemetry

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Lead bander/point counter (1)

Experience banding, mist net extraction, taking morphometric measurements, and collecting feather samples of small songbirds is required. Position also requires good color vision, ability to identify eastern birds by sight and sound, the ability to hike (on and off trail), navigate, and work alone in rugged terrain and variable weather conditions, and an interest in avian ecology. Experience training new banders will make candidates very competitive.

Duties will include: Operating 10, 12 m passive mist nets (4 days/wk), point-counts (1-2 days/wk), target netting warblers (1-2 days/wk), re-sighting color banded warblers, color banding target species, assisting graduate students with projects, and significant data entry. Banders can expect to handle 300+ birds from 30+ species in a season and encounter ~80 species during point count surveys. Banders will also deploy camera traps.

Primary Duties:

·         Leading banding crew of you and a field assistant

·         Tagging focal species with radio-transmitters

·         Point counts

·         Deploy nest cameras

·         Veg surveys

·         Some radio telemetry

·         Some nest searching

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Field Assistants (2)

The ability to identify most eastern birds by sight and sound is required. Experience banding and extracting small passerines from mist nets is preferred. Position requires good color vision, ability to identify eastern birds by sight and sound, the ability to hike (on and off trail) and work alone in rugged terrain and variable weather conditions, and an interest in avian ecology.

Duties will include: Assisting banders 4 days/wk, point counts (1-2 days/wk), re-sighting color banded warblers, assisting graduate students with projects, and significant data entry. Field technicians can expect to handle 150+ birds in a season and encounter ~80 species of songbirds during point count surveys. Technicians will also deploy camera traps.

Primary Duties:

·         Assist bird banding leads

·         Point counts

·         Veg surveys

·         Some nest searching

·         Some radio telemetry

·         Some nest camera deployments

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Education and Experience (all positions):

·      Some classes in Ecology, Biology, Wildlife, or related field.

·      Position requires good color vision, an interest in avian ecology, and the ability to hike and work alone in rugged and mountainous terrain and variable weather conditions.

·      Positions also necessitates attention to detail, self-motivation, and a positive attitude for long days (8-12 hours) in the field with biting insects.    

Preferred Education and Experience (all positions):

·      Associate degree or higher in wildlife management or related field

·      Experience with passerine nest searching

·      Experience with mist-netting and handling of nestlings

·      Experience with tagging birds with radio-transmitters/motus tags

·      Experience with setup/maintenance of motus towers

Physical Demand (all positions):

Navigating dense mountainous terrain carrying up to 25lbs of field equipment, sometimes before daybreak, and in areas inhabited by bears, feral hogs and venomous snakes.

All positions may be required to work regular overtime, which is time over 80 hours in a biweekly pay period, and will be paid at 1.5x your base pay rate. There will be some weeks with fewer than 40 hours per week worked.

Application Instructions:

To apply, send a cover letter, CV, and contact information for at least 3 references to Clay Delancey and Urvi Gupta (btbw.uga@gmail.com). Please provide application materials in one PDF document titled “LastName_Coweeta_Application” and include “Seasonal Avian Ecologist – interested position(s)” in the subject line with the position(s) you are applying for (i.e., bander, nest searcher, field assistant).

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and positions are open until filled.