Images

Photo of two students painting a lifelike Caspian tern decoy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey visited an elementary school to teach students about their scientific studies on waterbirds in the South San Francisco Bay.

Photo of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intern showing elementary students how to paint a Caspian tern decoy. Scientists from the USFWS and USGS Western Ecological Research Center are using these decoys to draw Caspian terns to restored habitat in the South San Francisco Bay.

White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) flying.

Elevation surveys as part of an effort to provide downscaled climate response models to managers, Bandon National Wildlife Refuge, Bandon Oregon. Photo credit: Katherine Powelson/USGS (former employee).

Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) and chick.

Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) flying.

Three of the nine wild sea otter populations in the U.S. are federally listed as threatened. In California, USGS biologists have lead an annual population census to assess the local populations' recovery, working closely with state agencies and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Kevin Lafferty encounters a curious endangered black sea bass during field work. Taken at Channel Islands National Park.

USGS WERC scientist Emily (Emma) Kelsey and Cassin's Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) chick.

Photo of a skunk with an ear tag ID. Scientists from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center are studying the movements of skunks and raccoons within Suisun Marsh, CA to understand how they navigate the marsh to reach waterfowl nests. Results will inform the management of waterfowl populations within the Central Valley, CA.

USGS scientist takes the measurements of a young, blindfolded skunk in Suisun Marsh, CA. The USGS is studying the movement patterns of skunks and raccoons in Suisun Marsh, CA to learn how they use different landscape features, like levee roads, to navigate to waterfowl nests.

Scientists with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center examine a young skunk caught in Suisun Marsh, CA. The USGS is studying the movement patterns of skunks and raccoons in Suisun Marsh, CA to learn how they use different landscape features, like levee roads, to navigate to waterfowl nests.

Hen in Suisun Marsh, CA.

Picture of a White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) flying.

Photo of a Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) in flight.

Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia) on Island 11 in Pond A16, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California. USGS biologists, at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, used lifelike models of Caspian terns to attract these waterbirds to newly-constructed habitat in the Bay.

Gadwall ducklings in nest, Suisun Marsh, CA. 

Photo of a USGS scientist holding a hen mallard equipped with a GPS transmitter. 

A pink-footed shearwater in flight.

USGS biological science technician Andrew Greenawalt holding a duckling with a lightweight radio transmitter. The USGS Western Ecological Research Center is monitoring waterfowl populations throughout Suisun Marsh, CA, and the greater Pacific Flyway. Radio transmitters fall off within several weeks and are recovered by scientists for data collection.

Laysan albatross with chick on Kauai, 2016.