Become a Citizen Scientist

Due to the shelter in place advisories, many of our community science programs have been suspended. Please see below for an update on each program. We are still conducting new volunteer intake and adding people to contact and wait lists for programs that are currently on hold or happening at a future date. To start the process to become a volunteer, please fill out our online form (at the box below) to get started. Please note the application process takes 4-6 weeks to complete. Please contact outreach@sfbbo.org for more information.

Landbirds

• Badger and Burrowing Owl volunteer opportunities are suspended until further notice and people can be added to a wait list. The next opportunity will be winter surveys sometime in the November–February range, if public health orders allow.
• No new volunteers are currently being trained for CCFS bird banding and people can be added to the wait list

Waterbirds

• New volunteers interested in colonial waterbird field work can be put on the contact list for 2021 (which we are currently hoping can proceed as planned).
• There ARE openings for volunteers to help us with remote colonial waterbird survey data entry
• Our July and August phalarope survey volunteer slots are filled and people can be added to a wait list
• Volunteers interested in conducting gull surveys next May and shorebird surveys this fall can be put on a contact list

Avian Disease Prevention Program (ADPP)

• ADPP is currently staff-only and will likely remain so for the rest of the season. People interested in volunteering next year can be put on a contact list

Snowy Plover and Least Tern Program

• Volunteer opportunities in the plover and tern programs are suspended until further notice and people can be added to our contact list

ONE-TIME OPPORTUNITIES

Shorebird Survey

​Survey for shorebirds during this one-day event, which occurs each year in November or December. Volunteers are assigned a location and record bird species and numbers on data sheets. Good shorebird ID skills required. The data contributes to the Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey and Migratory Shorebird Project.

Gull Survey 

Help our biologists survey California Gull nests by foot or by kayak during one day in May. No experience required, but a willingness to be near hundreds of active gulls required. 

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PERIODIC OPPORTUNITIES

​Burrowing Owl Survey

​Conduct transect surveys to count the number of breeding or wintering Burrowing Owls and search for owl burrows at sites on Midpeninsula Open Space District preserves and at other locations around the Bay. Training is offered on the day of the survey and repeat volunteers get first consideration. 

Prevent Avian Disease

​Help biologists move and clean boats and search the South Bay sloughs by boat to look for injured, sick, or dead birds. ​The season runs from June through November. One day per month encouraged, but not required.  

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SEASONAL OPPORTUNITIES

​Colonial Waterbird 

Track numbers of breeding egrets, herons, and other colony-nesting waterbirds on the first, and sometimes third, weekend of the month, and/or help with remote data entry. Training is in January and the season runs from February through August. 

Plover and Tern Surveys

Survey for Snowy Plovers or Least Terns at sites around the Bay during the breeding and wintering seasons. 

Phalarope Surveys

Survey phalaropes on one or more Tuesday mornings July through September. Ability to independently ID Red-necked, Wilson's, and Red phalaropes required. 

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ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES

​Landbird Banding

ONLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FROM PEOPLE WITH BIRD BANDING EXPERIENCE
Help biologists capture passerines in mist nets, band them, and collect data year-round at our Coyote Creek Field Station in San Jose. Volunteers progress from Predator Patroller (patrol mist nets, report captured birds, deter predators); to Extractor (extract birds from mist nets); to Bander (band birds and collect data). Nets are open on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings just before sunrise and a shift last for six hours. One day a month requirement. Orientation occurs three times a year. This is not a training or certification program. 3-5-year commitment required. 

Citizen Science Volunteer Application

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