Studies of bird populations are an important indicator of the overall health of a landscape. Birds provide valuable services, including seed dispersal, pollination, and pest control, which are essential for the health and stability of natural ecosystems. Great Basin Bird Observatory (GBBO), a non-profit organization focused on bird conservation, was able to begin in 2024 a multi-year series of studies of Bendire’s and LeConte’s thrashers in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. These two bird species are among the least understood and most steeply declining of all birds in North America, and this study is the first to be focused on this region of Nevada.

GBBO accomplished a major survey of forty randomly chosen transects (4-kilometer straight lines) inside the monument in Spring 2024. This first-year survey gave a good beginning data set to show how these birds are coping with climate change, drought and extreme heat, how they react to disturbances and partitions in their habitat, as well as basic information on their nesting and foraging habits, and what factors contribute to successful fledging of nestlings. This study was among the first to implement new thrasher survey protocols, mitigation guidelines for solar projects, and the Conservation Strategy for Bendire’s and LeConte’s Thrashers, which GBBO staff helped create in collaboration with 13 experts from 9 governmental agencies and non-profit organizations.

Images left to right by Bobby Wilcox, Carlos Gonzales, Jen Tobin and Ned Bohman

Several years of research are needed to successfully understand the current situation for these birds. GBBO was able to fund their research in 2024 through a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). However, GBBO has lost all of their funding to support these efforts in 2025, and Friends of Avi Kwa Ame has asked how we can help GBBO carry on the most crucial part of the work needed to make progress this spring during the thrasher nesting season.

Given the steep declines in populations of the Bendire’s Thrasher throughout its range, and the fact that Avi Kwa Ame National Monument holds one of only two known populations in Nevada, GBBO’s proposal is to conduct a survey of Bendire’s Thrasher to assess their approximate population size and distribution, targeting likely habitat and using broadcast calls for the birds in a road-based survey method. This will allow researchers to cover large areas of the monument in a relatively short time and at minimum of cost.

GBBO needs $10,000 to be able to continue their Thrasher research. Thanks to recent donations by GBBO supporters, $5,000 has already been covered. Join us in pooling our resources to raise the remaining $5,000 to make this study happen for our local birds. Friends of Avi Kwa Ame has also agreed to provide housing for the researchers during the study at the Mystery Ranch Research Station to help reduce the costs of this research.

Bendire’s Thrasher is a threatened species; their populations have declined by at least 86% since 1970. Finding out more about them can not only inform us on how to better protect this species, but it can help us protect the health of our ecosystem overall. It’s important, and it’s something we can do right now to help our neighbors in Avi Kwa Ame.

Photograph by Dawn Fletcher.

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Cover image of a LaConte's Thrasher by Jeanne Tinsman.

Emergency Funding for Thrasher Research in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument

Help support the Great Basin Bird Observatory's study of this threatened desert bird