Sign in

Great Basin Bird Observatory

@greatbasinbirds.bsky.social
2.4K followers 521 following 768 posts

Great Basin Bird Observatory conserves birds and their habitats in the Great Basin and adjacent areas through research, partnerships & education. Check us out at www.gbbo.org!

PostsRepliesMedia
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 3h
A Yellow-rumped Warbler to celebrate #WarblerWednesday!
Yellow-rumped Warbler perched on leafless branches
0100
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 22h
Up on Mount Grafton, in eastern Nevada - a lot of green shrubs and scudding clouds. There were Brewer's Sparrows and Gray Flycatchers galore at this site, but all we captured were pretty pictures. #TrailCamTuesday
lots of shrubs, including sagebrush, against a mottly bluesky-whitecloud kind of sky
010
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
So many Brewer’s Sparrows and Green-tailed Towhees up here near the top of Bald Mountain! #MountainMonday #BrewersSparrow #GreentailedTowhee #NevadaBirdCount
shrubby foreground, looking out and down over ridges and valleys
091
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Field manual amendment-“Avoid oncoming traffic while rescuing venomous lizards from the road.” #FieldWorkFriday #GilaMonster #herps
Gila Monster in a cooler, after being rescued from the road.
0458
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Is it a Red-tailed Hawk? Look for broad, rounded wings + relatively short tail, a signature trait of buteo hawks. The dark leading wing edges + belly band can stand out when the bird is soaring overhead. And don’t let the tail fool you! #RedtailedHawk #IDTips #birds
Red-tailed Hawk flying above, against a bright blue sky

Photo by Ned Bohman
1124
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
How's it going out there? Hope you're having a good day! #RedBreastedSapsucker #WoodpeckerWednesday
Red-breasted Sapsucker perched, looks at photographer
0101
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Not all of our field cameras get set out on stunning vistas with elk and pronghorn skipping by - some of them are a bit weedy, recovering from fire, and the wildlife tripping the camera appears to be a bee ... #TrailCamTuesday #BeesAreCoolToo
a rather weedy burn scar, with a mottly blue sky with lots of clouds, with what appears to be a bee silhouetted against the sky
0111
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Looking up to the setting moon, above the Pine Nut range from Buckskin Valley. #MountainMonday #NevadaBirdCount #MoonDay
Shrubby pinyon-juniper woodland in foreground, mountains in midground, blue sky with a setting moon in the back.
020
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A bigger-than-expected snowstorm couldn't hold back the 2025 Nevada Pinyon Jay crew as they began training! #PinyonJays #monitoring #Nevada #FlashbackFriday
A bundled up field crew poses mid-hike along a snowy dirt road through Pinyon Jay country
070
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Well, hello! It’s the National Bluebird Day of Happiness today! A day in which we can all emerge to seek some joy in the everyday.
western bluebird emerges from cavity
0100
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This spectacularly bright Townsend’s Warbler male flashes its tail as it looks at the photographer. We can find them throughout Nevada on migration. #WarblerWednesday #TownsendsWarbler
a Townsend's Warbler flashes it's tail, as it perches on branch
0181
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
We didn't have many species tripping this camera out in eastern Nevada, but watching the clouds skim their away across the sky was pretty nice! #TrailCamTuesday #Nevada
shrubs, grass and bare ground in foreground; woodland in midground, blue sky and clouds
010
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Surveying for Pinyon Jays brings beautiful views to share on #MountainMonday! From frozen camps & hiking through rugged terrain, to bogglingly beautiful sunrises & fun wildlife encounters - thank you to our resilient surveyors who make this work possible!
high snowy (and rugged) mountain tops against blue sky and clouds
0112
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Last week, we started up our banding station at Oxbow Park. One of our visitors was this Spotted Towhee! #Banding #birds
a Spotted Towhee in hand
0161
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Banding along the Truckee River, back in August 2023, we captured this Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and weighed it in this "bird tube," appropriately sized for their safety and ease of measurement. #SoSmallSoBeautiful #birdbanding #TruckeeRiver
Ruby-crowned Kinglet in handRuby-crowned Kinglet butt sticking out of a weighing tube.
1202
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Hummingbird ID Tip! When hovering in place, Black-chinned Hummingbirds tend to rhythmically pump their tails more noticeably than many other #hummingbird species. Keep an eye out for this subtle behavior next time you’re in the field! Have you noticed a Black-chinned Hummingbird doing this? #birds
Black-chinned Hummingbird hovering

Photo by Ned Bohman
070
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
On a jaunt through some Nevada pinyon-juniper woodland, I'm sure this Gray Fox wishes you all a Happy International Fox Day! #mammals
Gray Fox moves through opening in woodland
1261
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Dr Anke Marsh @ankemarsh.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New favourite wild cat just dropped 😍 The cutest darned kitty (my own cat is currently plotting my demise) and an important one in terms of redrawing the cat family tree and implications for conservation strategies Research paper (open access, yay!): #Mammals #Cats
cell.com
Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America
Lescroart, Nogales-Ascarrunz, et al. demonstrate that the contentious tiger cat species complex consists of five cryptic species. Based on analyses of 38 whole genomes from the Neotropical cat genus Leopardus, including genomes obtained from museum collections, they describe a new species and a new subspecies and elucidate tiger cat evolutionary history.
1208
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is all for a public talk, so if you don't have any plans next Wednesday (23 Sept. 2026) at 4 PM Central (5 PM Eastern) and want to learn some fun facts and see some nice photos of prairies and their baby birds, you can join us: bsky.app/profile/mopr...
1145
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Bald Eagles are one of the great conservation success stories of our time. #Grateful for everyone - conservationists, scientists, and all the caring community members, who united to save these magnificent birds. #BaldEagles #raptors #conservation
Bald Eagle, and branches
041
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
SoCal Leslie @socalleslie.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Magnificent ferruginous hawk on a telephone pole, wintering here in San Diego County. From my photo archives for @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social 🪶
Ferruginous Hawk wintering in San Diego County
822023
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks have lovely cinnamon highlights
Close up of Sharp-shinned Hawk
0100
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Like books? Like birds? Like books about birds? WOS members receive a 30% discount on books from @princetonupress.bsky.social. Just log into our online portal and click on "Member Benefits."
wilson.wildapricot.org
Wilson Ornithological Society - Home
083
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Season of Scaryanne Denton 🧡🎃 @mariannedenton.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Sunday’s Hike I’ve spent my life in this valley, Washoe Valley, & with this lake, Washoe Lake. With Washoe as the prominent name, I wondered what the Waší∙šiw (Washo people) called it. c'óʔyaʔ dáʔaw ≈ pelican lake Lovely & true ~ pelicans sometimes look like whitecap waves across the water.
A large valley with desert mountains in the distance, pines and forest shrubs in the foreground, and a shallow blue lake in the center. The sky has few clouds but mainly clear.
2404
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
California Botanical Society @calbotsoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Have you recently conducted fieldwork in the past couple of months, or are you planning to conduct fieldwork? CalBotSoc is looking for people interested in sending us photos and stories about where, why, and how you conducted your fieldwork!
011
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thanks again to all of our partners who joined us for the Fall Nevada Partners in Flight meeting - & to the Nevada Department of Wildlife for hosting! We really appreciate learning more about the bird conservation & research projects thruout the state. See you next spring in Las Vegas! #birds #PIF
Ferruginous Hawk perched on juniper against a hazy sky
161
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Hawk Migration Association @hawkmigration.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The Prairie Falcon is a medium-sized raptor found across western North America and Mexico. It typically hunts ground squirrels in open habitats such as grasslands, shrubsteppe, deserts, and tundra, but its diet also includes pikas, other birds, and insects. Photos of Prairie Falcon by Wendy Miller
011
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary @hawkmountain.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
To celebrate International Hawk Migration Week we are asking visitors to guess the total number of broadwings we count through September 30! 🦅🪶 Enter IN PERSON ONLY, Sept 12-20, for a chance to win a Family + Membership and a day in the pit with the counters at North Lookout!
022
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Calliope Hummingbird is tiny but mighty! The smallest long-distance migrant in the world, they travel ~5,000 miles ea year b/t breeding & wintering grounds. Calliopes head north along the Pacific Coast in spring, then fly south along the Rocky Mtns to Mexico, in fall. #birds #MigrationMonday
Calliope Hummingbird perched on branch, looks into camera. Photo by Ned Bohman
0147
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Sharp-shinned Hawks are familiar across the United States, mainly in winter. Did you know they tend to breed in more mature forest, at higher elevations or latitudes? This separates them from their lookalikes, Cooper’s Hawks, which take readily to breeding in cities. #birds #HawkMigrationWeek
Sharp-shinned Hawk against a blue sky
0134
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
International Hawk Migration Week begins today! Here in Nevada, HawkWatch International's Goshute Mountains site has been surveyed every fall since 1980, and is the longest-running of their sites! hawkwatch.org/migrat...
030
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
GBBO has hosted several bird banding workshops at our station on the Truckee River in recent years. Participants get the rare opportunity to safely handle & learn about birds up close. We always have so much fun connecting people with conservation! #birds #BirdBanding #TruckeeRiver #WildNevada
releasing bird from banding station
021
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
#PinyonJays and pinyon pines are partners in survival, but pinyon-juniper woodlands are changing. One hypothesis is that these landscapes have become increasingly simplified, with less variation in tree ages, densities, & habitat conditions that once made them more resilient. #ThursJay #Forests 1/2
Map of pinyon pine cone production on one of GBBO's Pinyon Jay survey plots - these plots are large, 2.5 x 2.5 km square.
1100
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Hannah Clipp, PhD @allthatwildlife.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Presenting... the 4th paper from my post-doctoral fellowship with the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station! 🧪 Research article title: "Tree species distributions modify decadal trajectories of bird species habitat suitability 🪶 predicted by climate change" Link: doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
Image of one of the figures from the research article referenced in the post. The figure is a series of 16 maps of the eastern USA, arranged in 4 columns and 4 rows, showing bird species incidence (a metric of relative abundance) for 4 bird species during 4 different decades spanning the 2000s, 2030s, 2060s, and 2080s.
13916
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Yup, it's data season. Anyone else's eyes crossing?! Even this Gray Fox thinks it's time to escape screens for a bit and go for a walk! #TrailCamTuesday #mammals #GrayFox #HeadOutsideAndTouchPineCones #TouchingGrassWorksTooIfPineTreesAreScarce
fox walks past camera
050
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
In years when pinyon pines produce abundant cone crops (mast years), Pinyon Jays have the resources they need to thrive and reproduce. Developing green cones can even trigger breeding behaviors, sometimes allowing Pinyon Jays to raise a second brood in the fall. #PinyonJays #forests 1/2
green pinyon pine cones
120
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
No waders… no problem! Breaking down the banding station after our workshop in August 2023. The Truckee River was running high due to snowmelt then. #birdbanding #wetfeet #truckeeriver
wading as take down nets
030
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Do you ever listen to the whirr of a hummingbird’s wings? Some species, like Broad-tailed, can be identified by the sound they make. Others, like this Anna’s, aren’t modified for sound but do sound noticeably different when the wings are molting! Happy National #Hummingird Day!
Hovering Anna's Hummingbird, with what I think is a blurry feeder in the background
071
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In late summer, Pinyon Jays begin to harvest and cache pine nuts. These caches are their winter food supply. In bad years, when cone crops fail, they wander widely in search of other food sources. #PinyonJays
Pinyon Jay with pine nut. Photo by Bobby Wilcox.
0104
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Learning something new every day! :)
030
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Mike Henry @onlyveesaz.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Yardbird! This first-year male Vermilion Flycatcher has been in our Mesquite tree most of the afternoon. (note orange streaking)
Immature male Vermilion Flycatcher
1061258
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Mike Henry @onlyveesaz.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Good Morning ☀️ 🏜️ More from Wednesday morning in the Sonoran Desert
Fish hook barrel cactus blossoms
231191141
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Today's bird read, via Audubon: "Scientists found that the lives of female perching birds—the biodiverse taxonomic group that contains all songbirds and flycatchers—are, on average, shorter than those of males." www.audubon.org/magazine/man...
audubon.org
Many Female Songbirds Have Shorter Lifespans Than Males, Scientists Find
A massive study uncovered significant survival differences between the two sexes of North America's perching birds.
056
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hey, it's #ThursJay! The pine nuts #PinyonJays cache in late summer/fall sustain them into early spring. As they begin nesting, their diet shifts to invertebrates, providing protein needed for egg production, incubation, and raising healthy chicks.
Pinyon Jay fledgling perched in pinyon tree
photo by Ned Bohman
060
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Rufous Hummingbird may be small, but it’s known for its BIG attitude! These feisty hummingbirds are fiercely territorial, defending precious food sources from other hummingbirds & sometimes even much larger birds and mammals. #RufousHummingbird #birds
Rufous Hummingbird with a beak down a bright red Indian Paintbrush flower, against sagebrush. Photo by Ned Bohman.
150
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Pinyon Jays' genus name is Gymnorhinus, meaning naked nose. This gives them a leg up on would-be competitors by allowing them earlier access to the resinous cones, whereas others are delayed by this or wait until more resin has dried and cones are easier to handle. #PinyonJays
closeup of Pinyon Jay head
190
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
California Botanical Society @calbotsoc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Are you conducted any botanical research, and want to spread awareness of your work and what you have accomplished? Every Friday, CalBotSoc will be posting about botanical research around the Western America! #homegrown
001
Great Basin Bird Observatory @greatbasinbirds.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Interested in learning #birdbanding? We're hosting a banding workshop, 21-24 September, along the Truckee River! Gain hands-on experience with mist-netting, safe bird handling, banding techniques, aging and sexing birds, data collection, and banding ethics. To learn more:
gbbo.org
Banding Workshop — Great Basin Bird Observatory
4-Day Bird Banding Workshop Location: Reno area (final location to be announced). We are currently evaluating two potential sites along the Truckee River. The final location will be confirmed in September and will be within 20 miles of downtown Reno. Join Great Basin Bird Observatory for an imm
1145
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The incredibly bizarre Rocky Mountain Hornet Fly. For most people, they would be convinced that this is a wasp. Look it even has stripes on its eyes! #Invertefest 🌿 seen on Goldenrod yesterday @denverbotanic.bsky.social
A fly that is colored like a wasp, mostly black with yellow stripes. It even has stripes on its eyes.
26811
Reposted by Great Basin Bird Observatory
Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Have you checked out our free Guide to Graduate Studies recently? It's a great starting point for anyone considering a graduate degree related to #ornithology.
wilsonsociety.org
Guide to Graduate Studies in Ornithology in the United States and Canada
Information for undergraduates about graduate degree programs in ornithology.
0127