Project WAfLS Update - Short-eared Owl surveys

Last year, we announced our involvement in Project WAfLS (Western Asio flammeus Landscape Study) – a collaborative effort to assess Short-eared Owl populations across eight western states. This 3-year study is funded through a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and relies on volunteer citizen-scientist to conduct surveys throughout the west. We are acting as the Montana state coordinator and survey methods are based on a paper we published in 2016.

With surveys from the first year complete, the Project WAfLS team created this info-graphic to illustrate preliminary results from each state. All told, 619 volunteers across eight states made this first year a success. Project WAfLS is a massive, impressively coordinated effort - kudos to everyone involved!! We will be sure to share detailed results as they come in, or you can follow updates on facebook or the website listed here.