Advanced Yellow-billed Cuckoo Field Workshop

Description

Presented by Western Birding

Join Western Birding for an intensive, limited-capacity field workshop designed for professionals seeking experience with Yellow-billed Cuckoo (YBCU) ecology and conservation. This advanced training is tailored specifically for biologists, environmental consultants, and land managers looking to gain hands-on experience in survey design, protocol implementation, and the nuanced behavior of this elusive species while fulfilling supervised field hours required for a USFWS Section 10(a)1(A) recovery permit.

Workshop Highlights

• Expert Instruction: Led by Adam Petry, who has studied cuckoos for 15 years and has helped develop regional habitat suitability standards.

• Field Experience: Two consecutive mornings (6:00 AM – 12:00 PM) during the summer breeding season, totaling 8+ hours of observation in confirmed breeding habitat.

• Technical Training: Participants will practice current protocol implementation, conduct habitat assessments, and perform desktop-based survey design analysis, gaining valuable understanding of the Halterman et al. (2016) standards.

• Professional Certification: Upon completion, attendees receive a formal letter of recommendation and certificate of completion.

Permit & Certification Details

This workshop is specifically structured to help participants meet USFWS Region 6 (CO, UT, MT, WY) permit eligibility:

• 8+ Supervised Field Hours: Provided during this two-morning workshop.

• Total Eligibility: When combined with the 4-hour Protocol Workshop Field Session, participants will meet the 12-hour minimum supervised survey requirement for Region 6.

• Transferrable Hours: Field hours obtained through Western Birding training are applicable toward supervised hour requirements in all other USFWS Regions.

• Documentation: Upon completion, participants receive a signed letter of recommendation and formal documentation of hours from a permitted cuckoo biologist.

Logistics & Investment

• Location/Dates: TBD (North Fork of the Gunnison River, CO).

• Schedule: Two consecutive mornings, 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

• Capacity: Minimum 4 / Maximum 10 participants. Space is reserved for the first online registrants.

• Cost: $695 per participant (excludes food, travel, and lodging).

Note on Permitting Timelines: Per the USFWS R6 Permit Coordinator, recovery permits require 60–90 days for processing. Field hours gained during this 2026 workshop should be viewed as qualifying credit for a permit valid starting in the 2027 season.

About the Instructor

Adam Petry brings unparalleled field expertise to this workshop. He is a member of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo Working Group Steering Committee and has studied cuckoos in Colorado for fifteen years. In 2025, he located five concurrently active YBCU nests in one river valley, which exceeded the USFWS estimate for the entire state. Since 2017, he has trained hundreds of biologists through the YBCU Survey Protocol Training and Advanced Field Workshop.