December 2024 - 27

A herd of pronghorn runs through snow during an aerial survey. This type of survey may count the number of animals below or look at the ratio of male, female and juvenile animals.
(Photo by Mark Gocke/WGFD)
use information from these aerial counts to
estimate abundance.
Wildlife managers in Wyoming use aerial
surveys to count various big game animals,
including moose, elk, pronghorn, bighorn
sheep and mule deer.
" A lot of our aerial surveys help in classifying
animals, " said Corey Class, Game and
Fish wildlife management coordinator in the
Cody Region. " We can count to see what the
buck-doe-fawn or bull-cow-calf ratios are in
the area. These surveys also help us to understand
population trends and can even show us
how animals are using the land during certain
times of the year. "
Aerial surveys aren't limited to big game. For
example, Game and Fish conducts aerial surveys
of trumpeter swans, harlequin ducks, bald
eagles and other raptors. Wildlife managers do
this by checking known nest sites to see if they
are occupied and surveying areas of habitat to
count individuals. They also add additional
nests they spot during the aerial surveys.
Animals aren't only counted from the air.
Some wildlife is counted or classified from the
ground. For example, Game and Fish employees
attend sage-grouse leks - or breeding
grounds - every year to count sage-grouse
in attendance at the site. These counts give
wildlife biologists an idea of sage-grouse population
trends.
Another ground-led effort is the North
American Breeding Bird Survey. This survey
is conducted across much of the continent
each spring, including in Wyoming.
" For the North American Breeding Bird
Survey, dozens of volunteers and agency biologists
drive established routes and stop at
designated points to count all the birds they
see and hear, " said Zach Wallace, Game and
Fish nongame bird biologist. " We have data
going back to 1966. No other multi-species
bird monitoring program goes back that far.
The volunteers for this program provide a
great contribution to our understanding of
the status of birds in Wyoming. "
As a complement to the breeding bird
survey, the Integrated Monitoring in Bird
Conservation Regions program, which is
coordinated by the Bird Conservancy of the
Wyoming Wildlife | 27

December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2024

December 2024 - 1
December 2024 - 2
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2025
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
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