Volunteer Opportunity:
Schedule:
Objective:
Header image by Henry T. McLin
Help us find and then monitor active nesting saguaros for Desert Purple Martins. Knowing the favorite nesting locations of these birds will help focus our habitat work to control invasive grasses. These grasses can lead to fires that destroy desert habitat and kill saguaros. Also note that later in the season when the Purple Martins wrap up their nesting they congregate into groups. We are trying to find the locations where they gather into these post-breeding, pre-migration roosts.
Position Description:
There are various ways to help based on your time available, level of interest and physical abilities. If you see an active Purple Martin nest in a saguaro please report it to iNaturalist or here on our online form. If you see Purple Martins congregating in September or early October, we want to know that, too!
If you want to be more involved in helping us learn about the natural history of these birds and help monitor active nests using an endoscope, sign up below!
Requirements:
To join the monitoring team you must be able to walk through desert habitat in the summer over uneven and often rocky ground. Work can happen very early in the morning to avoid the hottest parts of the day but you need to be able to deal with some heat. If you want to help with endoscoping nests you need to be able to carry and maneuver an extendable pole.
Date:
July through early September
Number of Openings:
We are looking for 10-30 volunteers!
**Please note that you can help by submitting to iNaturalist or our online form without signing up
Location:
Tucson, Sahuarita, Green Valley and other Sonoran Desert Habitats in SE Arizona.