Intermountain Bird Observatory

09/08/2026

Volunteers needed! We are excited to continue IBO's Habitat Club to aide in our habitat restoration efforts at the Diane Moore Nature Center.

This fall we will be meeting on Friday afternoons to accomplish a variety of projects, including:
~Seed Collection
~Closing social trails
~Installing new gates & signs
~Site clean up
~Widening sections of trails
~Scouting/flagging cottonwoods for beaver wrapping & pruning
~Planting site preparation
~October planting days (Saturday dates tbd)

Photo by Elizabeth Serocki shows some of our 2025 Habitat Club volunteers.

If you're interested in joining us, fill out this habitat club form and we will email you with details for each upcoming work day. https://forms.gle/PSnPTDsVDewR66cA6

08/28/2026

! BIRD STICKERS DROPPING TOMORROW !

Our undergraduate students from our Vertically Integrated Project course have created some fantastic bird stickers! Each is original art and features one of our study species 🥹

These sticker packs will be debuting at the inaugural Summer Market hosted by sagebrush markets • bringing together art + community on Saturday, Aug. 29th only! We’ll be tabling at the 36th St Event Center in Boise from 12-9 pm alongside many other local artists and businesses.

Stop by our table and help support these early-career artists and biologists! 🧑‍🎨 If you can’t make it tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled for other opportunities to purchase stickers 👀

08/28/2026

We’ll be participating in Bogus Basin’s National Public Lands Month kickoff event tomorrow, Aug. 29th! From 12 to 4 pm, we’ll be at the base area lawn talking to guests about our hummingbird research and more!

We’re in our second year of collaboration with Bogus Basin Environmental Education and we’re so excited about everything there is to learn about hummingbird behavior and ecology here! Stop by to learn all about it, and while you’re at it, check out the other conservation orgs, activities, and more available tomorrow 😁

Plus, you could make this a fun full-day outing by stopping by our table at sagebrush markets • bringing together art + community once you’re done at Bogus! 🌲🛍️

08/27/2026

We could use your help with providing supplies and other items to Lucky this fall! From keeping camp clean to helping the crew stay clean 🛁 these are a few priority items from our wishlist that would make life a little bit nicer for our crew that’s living on the mountain full-time until October!

In particular, we could use more carabiners to make lanyards that are used to safely transport birds back to the station! Swipe to see an example of one of our songbirds banders wearing a “bird necklace” as we often call them ☺️

For Boise locals, if you have any extra garden veggies or farm eggs you’d like to donate, our crew would happily accept adding some fresh produce to their diets 🥬 Message us and we can make arrangements to transport produce up to the peak, or pop in for a visit and bring them yourself! Either way, we will appreciate it immensely 😁

If you’re not in a position to donate, please consider helping out by sharing this post instead! Thanks for all you do support us during the field season and beyond 🫶🏼

You can find the complete list of items at the link below

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3P9C4PA1FRPDG?ref_=wl_share

08/03/2026

Boise volunteers needed!

Every year we need a few folks who live in Boise and are willing to host our Lucky Peak technicians on their days off. The team camps on the peak during their work week, and each person comes to town for a shower, groceries, and errands once a week. So, we are looking for folks who can provide a private bedroom and bathroom for a crew member 1x weekly from now through the end of October.

We are also looking for folks who could support a crew member on a shorter-term basis for a few nights in a row if we end up with more smoky air that makes camping at Lucky Peak unsafe.

In past years our hosts have been folks who enjoy getting to know our early career biologists and supporting them during the fall, or folks who are away from home and could use someone to check the mail or water houseplants once a week.

Would you be willing to "adopt" a member of our crew this year? Please reach out to [email protected]

(NOTE we've been having technical difficulties with our Boise State email today! If your original email to us bounced, please try again at [email protected])

07/31/2026

Come see us at this fun new summer market!

Visit the Intermountain Bird Observatory's booth at the Sagebrush Collaborative Summer Market. Meet undergraduate students from our Vertically Integrated Project course, and see the art they created for their semester projects. (Students will have brand new bird stickers available 👀).

We hope you'll come out and support these early career artists and wildlife biologists!

If you came to see us at the Holiday Market last winter, you know that Sagebrush Collaborative always puts on super fun events with endless lovely artists. It's sure to be a wonderful time!

https://www.sagebrushcollaborative.com/events/sagebrushs-inaugural-summer-market

07/27/2026

CANCELLED Songbird and Hummingbird banding are cancelled due to poor AQI. Monday July 27th.

https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php?m=hrrr&p=smoke_sfc

07/23/2026

We're back! The Claremont fire closures have been lifted and our crews are back at Lucky Peak to begin our songbird fall migration research.

We're posting our daily lists to eBird if you want to follow along. https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1529298/recent-checklists

So far it seems like it's shaping up to be a very busy year for Pine Siskins and Hummingbirds!

07/13/2026

Lucky Peak Fall Migration SEASON DELAYED DUE TO THE CLAREMONT FIRE.

Due to the Claremont Fire, our 2026 songbird banding season at Lucky Peak is officially delayed. While we typically begin research on July 16th, our station is within the fire area closure and Highland Valley Road is currently closed.

Lucky Peak is NOT in imminent danger, but we are delaying the season out of an abundance of caution.

We will continue to work with IDFG and BLM fire teams to assess fire risk and plan our access to the site. Please abide by all road and trail closures and check our website and social media for updates on our 2026 opening. Visit the Idaho -Great Basin page or WatchDuty for fire updates.

As of 7/13/26 the fire has an estimated containment date of 8/1/26.

We will plan to post an update about our Lucky Peak songbird season in early August, and are hopeful that our raptor and owl seasons will be able to start on time.

06/21/2026

Thank you Channel 6 for visiting us!

The Intermountain Bird Observatory at Boise State is hosting several hummingbird banding sessions that the public can check out to learn more about these birds and the research being done.