Contact Us
Nature Center Hours
VINS Nature Center
10am to 4pm Daily
Wild Bird Rehab is Open
Accepting Calls Only
802.359.5000 x212
8am to 4pm
Bird Research at the VINS Nature Center
Our work with avian wildlife in both the rehab and educational settings puts us in the unique position to study wild populations throughout the state. Our experience allows us to create unique projects that increase our understanding of avian species. We freely share our knowledge with anyone who may be interested and collaborate with other organizations in their avian studies. Details of our current projects can be found below.
VINS Research is conducting long term acoustic monitoring at the VINS Nature Center and at Old Pepper Place Nature Reserve. Microphones will be placed to record both nocturnal flight calls of migrating birds as they fly overhead and the dawn chorus of birds as they arrive in spring.
VINS is conducting surveys each spring to create a long term record of breeding birds on our campus. Eighteen plots are located throughout the center where staff monitor birds that are present throughout the breeding season.
Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation
VINS is banding rehab patients prior to release in an effort to follow patients’ return to the wild. The banding allows us to potentially follow a released bird’s movements and judge the success of treatments in the rehab center.
VINS conducts hawk counts during fall migration at Mount Ascutney State Park in Vermont.
Data will be submitted in near real time to HawkCount:
https://www.hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=815
VINS partnered with the Red-tailed Hawk Project during the winter of 2020 to capture and outfit two Red-tailed Hawks with GPS transmitters.
In the winter of 2021 we partnered with the Red-tailed Hawk Project to outfit five Rough-legged Hawks with GPS transmitters.
These birds will help us better understand how the species are utilizing Vermont in the winter and will contribute to the overall knowledge of their species movements.
The VINS Research Team, in collaboration with volunteers, is monitoring a network of American Kestrel nest boxes throughout the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. Nest boxes are located on private property and are monitored by landowners or VINS staff. Nestlings from successful nests are banded by VINS staff prior to fledging.
Apply today if you would like to get involved with the project or have a location for a Kestrel nestbox.
Help support our work with American Kestrels by symbolically adopting a wild bird or a nest box. Funds go toward the costs of maintaining and monitoring our extensive nest box network.
