Become a Bald Eagle Nest Monitor in 2023
Training Opportunity to Become a Volunteer Bald Eagle Nest Monitor
Calling all wildlife watchers! The Iowa DNR will be hosting a live online training workshops for anybody interested in becoming a volunteer bald eagle nest monitor in Iowa. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Sunday February 19th from 1:00 pm to 4:00pm.
Community science volunteers have been helping to monitor Iowa’s eagle population since 2006. Workshop participants will learn about this program and how to get involved and monitor a nest in their area of the state. Iowa has over 500 active bald eagle nests across the state plus many more that have an unknown status. In 2022, volunteer nest monitors collected data on roughly 290 of these nests!
Program coordinator Stephanie Shepherd explains, “With more than 1000 wildlife species in the state, we just don’t have enough staff in the DNR to adequately monitor all the vulnerable species that need attention. This is where community scientists play a crucial role.”
To be a bald eagle nest monitor you will need a pair of binoculars and preferably a spotting scope. Nest monitors are particularly needed in the following counties;
Allamakee, Appanoose, Chicaksaw, Clayton, Delaware, Howard, Linn, Lucas, Johnson, Jones, Marion, Monroe, Wayne, and Winneshiek
but interested people anywhere in the state are welcome. We will try to match you up with a nest near your home base. The time commitment for conducting the survey and submitting data is roughly 6 hours total between March and July each year and will require multiple visits to a nest.
Each workshop will be limited to 25 households and a $5.00 tuition + fees is required (it will be between $6.50 to $7). Registration will close on February 15th at 5pm or whenever the 25 household per workshop limit has been reached. Have questions? The VWMP webpage may help answer them or you can direct questions to Stephanie Shepherd at vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.
