Bend, Ore – The World War II era was the last time several sage-grouse leks were surveyed in eastern Oregon until this year when biologists tested using infrared technology to detect birds from the air.
Many other leks hadn’t been surveyed in more than 20 years.
This spring, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are trying infrared technology (IR) to survey leks – areas where males gather in a mating display for females – that are difficult to visit on the ground for reasons including access or extreme remoteness.
ODFW contracted with Owhyee Air Research to conduct the surveys with fixed wing aircraft.
“We’re very pleased with the results, and the technology looks promising. We confirmed many leks are still active that haven’t been surveyed for decades because of access issues,” said Jackie Cupples, Statewide Sage-grouse Coordinator.
Another new technology being tested is solar-powered GPS transmitters.
More than 1 million acres of sage-grouse habitat burned in the 2012 wildfires. To see how well the birds respond to very large, landscape altering fires, biologists fixed the transmitters to 66 sage-grouse hens in 2013 and 2014.
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