Bird Banding

Have you ever seen a yellow warbler, a gray catbird or an FWP biologist up close?  

This June and July, you’re invited to watch science unfold at bird-banding stations at Montana WILD and Spring Meadow Lake State Park during seven different events. Biologists will safely capture birds in mist nets (fine-meshed nets suspended among trees and shrubs) and gently handle a variety of songbirds to collect information related to age, sex, reproductive status and body condition before releasing them back to the wild.  

FWP’s Montana WILD/Spring Meadow Lake bird-banding station is one of more than 1,200 stations across the U.S. and Canada that operate as part of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program. Data from MAPS stations help us learn about bird population trends, reproductive success, habitat condition, migration and much more.  

Join us for an up-close look at songbirds and science in action!  Stations will be open to the public from 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. on the following dates.    

• June 5 

• June 13 

• June 26 

• July 9 

• July 18 

• July 25 

• July 31