Page 30 - March/April 2020 - Outdoor Oklahoma

By Jena Donnell, Wildlife Diversity Information Specialist

WAde Free/odWC Insights From Decade of Wildlife Studies

Insights From Decade

of Wildlife Studies

By Jena Donnell, Wildlife Diversity Information Specialist ter-season bird distribution atlas in the nation! More
than 550 2-square-mile parcels were surveyed across
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation the state, yielding information about 183 wintering
has long been dedicated to the discovery of what makes bird species.
our fish and wildlife populations thrive. Sometimes “Most bird atlases are focused on the breeding season,
that discovery starts with a search of the state to find but Oklahoma has a suite of birds that are only found
where the animals are living, and sometimes the search in the state in winter,” Senior Biologist Mark Howery
leads to more questions. As we prepare to enter a new said. “And surveys of some year-round residents like the
decade of wildlife study, we checked in with the Wildlife brown-headed nuthatch were more successful in the
Department’s Wildlife Diversity staff for insights into winter than in the breeding season.”
research and surveys that have been completed in the
past 10 years. It Takes a Team
Surveys often take weeks or months in the field to
To Everything a Season apply different survey methods and test various tech-
One of the first wildlife projects completed in the niques. With Oklahoma’s incredible diversity in its
2010s was also the first of its kind. In 2010, surveyors wildlife and habitat, the Department regularly looks to
with the Oklahoma Biological Survey wrapped up the our community of research partners for help. In 2011,
Oklahoma Winter Bird Atlas, the first statewide win- a survey team with the University of Oklahoma com-

28 OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA