Two Part-Time Passerine Research Positions: Lead Bander and Field Assistant

Salary: $2,500 - $3,500 for the summer, commensurate with experience

We are looking for two experienced people to join us for the summer field season: May – mid July 2023; a lead passerine bander and a tracker.  Work alongside our dynamic team of undergraduates, graduate students, and banders to collect data for a graduate research project.  

We will be banding, color banding, and collecting blood samples from gray catbirds. Color-branded birds will be tracked with a handheld GPS and audio recorder on non-banding days to record vocalizations and map nesting territories. In addition, we will also be attaching tracking packages containing a GPS data logger to track movement and map home ranges of focal gray catbirds.

Primary responsibilities include: 1) extracting birds from mist nets, 2) handling and processing birds, 3) tracking catbirds and recording their vocalizations and behavior, and 4) other fieldwork related responsibilities as necessary. Lead banders must have experience and proficiency in opening/closing mist nets, extracting birds, and handling, identifying, aging, and sexing passerines and near passerines. Experience collecting blood samples is preferred but not required. Lead banders are expected to be able to smoothly run a banding station. Field assistants should have some banding experience as well, and should have experience identifying bird vocalizations, proficiency with binoculars, and ideally nest-finding.

Work will generally be 30 minutes prior to sunrise for 6-7 hours, 3-5 days per week for an average of 20-30 hours/week. The banding schedule is dependent on weather, and the fieldwork schedule is generally decided on a week-to-week basis. Successful candidates should have an interest in birds, possess a positive attitude, be able to work in close company with coworkers, be able to follow protocols, be prepared to work long hours in sometimes adverse conditions (heat and humidity), and be meticulous and patient.

We have a socially distancing bird banding protocol based on CDC guidelines, including the use of face masks. Applicants would ideally be able to commute to the Louis Calder Center, in Armonk, NY. The availability of renting basic housing at the field station is a possibility that is still being explored.  

Please submit a resume and two references to Ar Kornreich (akornreich@fordham.edu). Please include "Summer Passerine Bander/Field Assistant" as the email subject line. Specify which position you are applying for: Lead Bander or Field Assistant.