KW Census 2025

Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2025 Kirtland’s Warbler Census. The census will begin on June 9 in the Lower Peninsula and end on or about June 20. In the Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Canada, the census will begin on June 9 and end on or about June 27.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot accept just anyone to be on the census field crew. In order to qualify, you must be:

• In good physical condition, i.e., be able to walk two or more miles over uneven terrain through a dense forest.

• Of reasonably good hearing.

• Able to identify bird songs, especially all Kirtland’s Warbler vocalizations and those of other species occurring in young jack pine habitat.

• Able to navigate with a compass and pacing. The use of a GPS unit is highly recommended.

• Able to triangulate bird calls/songs to estimate bird locations for more accurate mapping and to avoid over-counting. 

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Through a quiz that you will soon take, we are asking you to self-certify your ability to identify a Kirtland’s Warbler by song/call and discern a Kirtland’s Warbler from the other birds you might hear in the jack pine ecosystem. Prior to starting, you may want to familiarize yourself with the songs and calls of Kirtland’s Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, and others.

 

You can familiarize yourself by listening to these individual songs at xeno-canto.org or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library. At both sites you can enter a species name to listen to various recordings. At the Macaulay site, once you have reached the page for the individual species, click on the audio recording logo near the top left corner to be taken to a series of recordings. 

 

We ask that you successfully complete the Jack Pine Species Identification section to self-qualify. But first, let's familiarize you with the protocols.