How did a one-person operation evolve into one of the longest-running community science projects in Florida? You’ll find out in this lively exploration of Cape Florida Banding Station (under the TAS wing since 2020), at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. We’ll retrace the project’s trajectory, share what scientists learn from the long-term data collected by Banding Station volunteers, and explain how such data helps birds survive.
Station co-founder and director Michelle Davis will celebrate the dedicated volunteers who’ve made this project possible, recount the most interesting birds encountered over 20 years, including a Ruddy Quail Dove (pictured above) banded on October 3, 2013 — the rarest bird ever encountered at the station and the only one banded in the continental U.S. — and discuss the Station’s role as a flagship TAS program.
TAS Field Trip Coordinator and Executive Board member Brian Rapoza will moderate the webinar.
Primer: Volunteer community scientists have been banding songbirds at CFBS during Fall Migration since 2002. After TAS adopted the project and expanded its capacity in 2020, the Station launched its first regular annual Spring Migration banding season in March 2021.
Photo by Robin Diaz