Missouri Birding Society

Home
United States
Columbia, MO
Missouri Birding Society

Directions Website Contact the organization

The MBS Mission Statement:
The society is dedicated to the preservation and protection of birds and o

10/23/2026

LAD Sites in Shannon County: Birding Visits Needed
MBS and the LAD Foundation have an agreement for MBS members to conduct bird surveys in two eBird hotspots, Pioneer Forest—Virgin Pine Randolph Tract, and Pioneer Forest--Woods Hole. The earnings from this program are credited to the MBS Youth Scholarship account.
Before you go, learn what to expect in the downloadable Birding Site Guide at https://mobirds.org/Birding/SiteGuides.aspx, and select the Pioneer Forest site guide.
No visits have been reported for Pioneer Forest--Woods Hole, Oct. week 4, Nov. weeks 2,3,4

10/21/2026

Birding Camp Scholarships
The Missouri Birding Society’s Youth Scholarship Committee is awaiting updated information from the American Birding Association (ABA) before announcing the camp scholarship(s) to be offered for summer 2027. Additional scholarships are available directly from ABA.
Look for the ABA camp accounts of MBS scholarship recipients Darby Nugent and Silvie Purkis in the December issue of the MBS quarterly journal, The Bluebird.

10/19/2026

Boone County Nature School Leads the Way in Bird-friendly Windows
Thanks to a partnership between the Boone County Nature School and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature School is the first building in the state fully treated with anti-collision Feather Friendly dot film to prevent wild bird collisions. Collisions are the second-largest human-caused contributor to wild bird death. Birds can see windows as a pass-through, or they fly toward reflected vegetation or sky. Treating windows with exterior film or adding paracord curtains is one of the easiest and quickest ways for anyone to contribute to bird conservation - once windows are treated on the exterior, birds can see them, and collisions stop.
Huge shout-out to Andrew Kinslow and Ragan Webb (Science Coordinators at Columbia Public Schools) for their partnership and hard work!
Look for the full story in the December 2026 issue of The Bluebird. In the meantime, if you have problem windows at home or work, visit https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/bird-collision-reduction-toolkits to learn how you too can stop collisions!

10/16/2026

Motus Wood Thrush Study
During spring migration 2026, Missouri Motus stations detected 41 unique tagged Wood Thrush originally tagged in 7 other states involved in the Range-wide Wood Thrush Motus Project - the largest coordinated Motus study ever undertaken, spanning 60+ partners across the full breeding and wintering range. 1,300 tags deployed since 2024 in 27 states, Ontario, and 5 Latin American countries on the nonbreeding grounds have generated 170 million detections (tags emit a pulse every 15 seconds, and each counts as a detection), helping identify migratory connections and survival bottlenecks across the species' annual cycle. Wood Thrush detected on Missouri Motus stations moving north during spring migration were originally tagged in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Mexico, and Honduras! Eighteen Wood Thrush tagged in Missouri were also detected during the spring migration window. (Source: Sarah Kendrick, USFWS)

10/14/2026

Motus
Motus is a radio tracking system. The animal (bird, bat, large insect) only needs to be captured once. A tag is attached bearing a unique signal that, when coming in range of a receiver station, sends a signal identifying the individual. The signals as received at a series of towers provide a track of the animal’s movements.
Data can be explored by stations, projects, species, or regions. By looking at the station data, we can see what is moving through Missouri and follow them on their migratory journeys along the track of detections from more stations.
Each station has a record which can be viewed online at https://motus.org/dashboard/ =stations&f=%7B%7D. A map shows all stations. Clicking on one brings up the basic data for that station. Clicking on one of the species listed brings up data for that species.
As an example, Shannondale Lookout Tower (receiver installed and active April 14, 2025, with funds from MBS) shows 13 species, 90 detections as of this writing. Birds detected are: Wood Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, Mourning Dove, Swainson’s Thrush, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Bobolink, and Northern Waterthrush. Monarch Butterfly has also been detected.
By clicking on the name of the species in the station’s detection list (example: Mourning Dove), the migration track of an individual bird can be followed on the map.

10/12/2026

Birding Site Guides On the MBS Website
More than 250 Missouri birding site guides written by Missouri birders are available to read and download at https://mobirds.org/Birding/SiteGuides.aspx. The guides give detailed information about habitats, seasonal bird presence, facilities, trails, and more.
Maximize your next birding adventure to a new site by checking for a site guide to it. And, if you are well-acquainted with a site not among the ones available, consider writing one.
The introductory section to a recent addition to the collection :
Grand Gulf State Park
Cindy Bridges, 2026
322 Acres, Oregon County. DeLorme 65, I-6.
https://mostateparks.com/park/grand-gulf-state-park/map
GPS 36.544153, -91.644992
Copy Plus Code: G9V4+H6 Koshkonong, Missouri
Grand Gulf State Park is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as part of the Missouri State Park System. The park includes 159 acres leased to the state by the LAD Foundation and an additional 150 acres owned by MoDNR. Grand Gulf was
designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971 and became a Missouri state park in 1984 through the lease agreement between the L-A-D Foundation and the state. Within the park, 60 acres are also designated as the Grand Gulf Natural Area by the Missouri Department of Conservation. For more information, call the Park Office: 417-264-7600
Directions: From Thayer on Hwy 63, take Highway W 5.8

10/09/2026

Brown-headed Nuthatch Project
The Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) was likely extirpated from Missouri in the early 1900s following large-scale removal of Ozark shortleaf pine by timber companies. Through decades of pine-oak woodland restoration on the Mark Twain National Forest and other public lands, over 60,000 acres have been restored to provide suitable habitat for this pine-obligate species.
The final year the Brown-headed Nuthatch reintroduction program, bringing Arkansas-captured birds for release in Mark Twain National Forest, was conducted in late August. MBS members participating in the 2026 capture efforts included State Ornithologist Kristen Heath-Acre, MBS president Michael O’Keefe, Rebecca Landewe , Leif Anderson, Frank Thompson, Sarah Kendrick, and Joseph Mosley. This year, 100 birds were gently processed—weighted, s*x determined, color-banded (and some selected for Motus transmitters) before being released, bringing the total translocated via the project to 381.
Motus and other recent data show birds exploring up to 27 miles from the original release site prior to the 2026 release. When in Missouri’s short-leaf pines, keep an eye out and ears tuned for their rubber duck-like “squeaka-squeaka”.

10/07/2026

MBS Fall Meeting
The 75 registered for the 2026 MBS Fall Meeting in Columbia, September 25-27, were entertained and informed by Bill Clark’s snapshot version of the first 100 years of ASM/MBS, Kristie Nelson’s explanation of the compilation and value of Christmas Bird Count data, and Marlee Malmborg’s description of the American Kestrel Box Monitoring Project.
At the annual business meeting, Mike Grant was elected president (and declared henceforth he would prefer to be called President Grant), Kathy Wann was elected secretary, and Tom Nagel of St. Joseph and Daniel “Luke” Schneider of Eureka were elected to the Board of Directors.
Experienced field trip leaders showed participants samples of their favorite sites in Boone, Cole, Callaway and Howard counties, amassing a weekend total of 127 species. Several birders saw life birds. The birding continued into the Sunday picnic, as many were distracted from Mike Grant’s traditional tally count by the sighting of a Black-throated Green Warbler 15 feet from the shelter.

10/05/2026

Grand River Audubon Society Big Sit
Grand River Audubon extends an invitation to all birders to celebrate its 30th annual Big Sit on October 10th , 2026. See “The Swan Lake Big Sit” by Terry McNeely, p. 119 of the September 2018 issue of The Bluebird for the history of this event
The Big Sit is a relaxing day of birding and socializing, held at the Swan Lake NWR viewing platform, reached from a two-track heading north from the main road, east of the defunct (flood-destroyed) visitor center. Brats and hot dogs are served for lunch (a contribution is appreciated). Consider bringing a side or dessert to share. Text or email Terry if you plan to come so enough brats will be on hand. Show up any time after dawn (or before, if you’re really gung ho), and stay as long as you like. Bring a chair, binoculars, and a scope if you have one. Birders with scopes will share.

10/03/2026

Hold Your Own Big Sit
The Big Sit is a semi-competitive birding event, originated by the New Haven Bird Club. It is free and open to anyone. It has a few basic rules. 1. See how many species you /team can identify from a 17-foot diameter circle (you can leave the circle to confirm the bird if it is being heard or seen from the circle. 2. Someone must remain in the circle. 3. Keep track on paper of the number of Bird species observed. 4. Keep track of all participants, whether they just visit or spend the whole day. More information about the Big Sit can be found at (www.thebigsit.org).

Address

Columbia, MO

Website

http://mobirds.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Missouri Birding Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Missouri Birding Society:

Want your organization to be the top-listed non profit organization in Columbia?