We strive to provide opportunities learn about birds through direct experience with them in the field and through learning about the research and observations of local experts and enthusiasts.
Bird Walks
Local walks with amateur guides. These take a few hours and occur throughout the year.
Presentations
Hear from local experts and students on bird and other ecological and biological topics.
Bird Trips
Extended overnight trips to regional or wider destinations organized by volunteer or paid guides.
Spring Equinox river cleanup and birding social
Saturday, March 21, 2026, 8:00 AM – ~11:00AM
Koppel Farm and Community Gardens, Pullman, WA
Join Palouse Audubon for our first annual South Fork Palouse River cleanup and birding social. We will start with a bird walk at 8AM in the birdiest areas near Koppel Farms then pick up trash along the river. Coffee, donuts, and fellowship with other birders will be available throughout the morning. Please register through the link below to help us get a headcount.
Behavioral Phenotypes and Reproductive Consequences in a Sensory Polluted World
Presented by Marlen Terrazas, 2025 recipient of a Palouse Audubon Student Grant
Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at 7:00 pm
Pullman Rec Center, 190 SE Crestview St., Pullman, WA
As urbanization expands across the globe, sensory pollutants such anthropogenic noise and light creep into new landscapes, degrading the quality of pristine ecosystems. Marlen will present her research exploring how sensory pollutants such as noise and light shape behavior in Chipping sparrows and Ash-throated flycatchers. This work aims to contribute to the understanding of how anthropogenic change alters behavioral strategies in avian species and what these changes mean for survival in an increasingly human-dominated world.
Marlen Terrazas is a second-year PhD student in the School of the Environment working towards a degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences.
Jackrabbit movement and habitat selection in central Washington
Presented by Claire Kurlychek, 2025 recipient of a Palouse Audubon Student Grant
Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at 7:00 pm
Pullman Rec Center, 190 SE Crestview St., Pullman, WA
The degradation and loss of shrub-steppe habitat in Washington has reduced species richness across the landscape. Over half of Washington’s historic shrub-steppe ecosystem has been transformed resulting in significant loss of habitat connectivity and disruption of the movements of native species including Washington’s native jackrabbit species which are important prey for large raptors including Golden Eagles and Ferruginous Hawks. This talk will cover background information on jackrabbits in central Washington and the ongoing research project into the daily and seasonal resource selection and movements of white-tailed and black-tailed jackrabbits using GPS tags and VHF telemetry.
Claire Kurlychek is a graduate student in the School of the Environment at WSU.
Bird walks on the Palouse
Check our bird walks page for details.
Past Events
Bat Chat! Bats from the Perspective of a Bat Advocate
Presented by Dr. Lynne Nelson
Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 7:00 pm
1912 Center, 412 E. 3rd St., Moscow, ID
This discussion explores the vital yet often overlooked role bats play in our ecosystems. From controlling insect populations and pollinating plants to dispersing seeds, bats provide a wide range of ecological and economic benefits. Although bats are often vilified as culprits of virus expansion, they are more likely a messenger about our environment and our health. The presentation also addresses common myths and fears, aiming to foster a better understanding and appreciation of these fascinating mammals. This discussion combines natural bat biology, new science, and conservation insights to highlight why protecting bats is essential for a healthy planet.
Dr. Lynne Nelson is a boarded-certified veterinarian in Internal Medicine and Cardiology specialties. She is currently a Professor of Cardiology at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Nelson’s research works to understand cardiac adaptations in mammals to extreme conditions and environmental stressors. She has studied hibernation processes in grizzly bears and ground squirrels, and she works with zoos and nonprofit organizations around the world assessing heart disease in wildlife. She works with these teams to identify early indicators of cardiovascular disease in wildlife species.
Call of the Wild: A Multi-user Protocol for Passerine Acoustic Data Processing
Presented by Miles Butler
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 7:00 pm
1912 Center, 412 E. 3rd St., Moscow, ID
The University of Idaho Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society launched a new research project to evaluate the impacts of silviculture practices on populations of declining passerine species in Idaho. As part of our pilot season, we deployed acoustic sensors at five sites in the University of Idaho Experimental Forest near Potlach, Idaho to record bird vocalizations during dawn and dusk choruses. Here, we present our study design and a streamlined method to isolate vocalizations of passerine species from automated recording units (ARUs) to facilitate reproducible data processing. In 2025, we will use processed data to evaluate the effect of prescribed burning regimes on passerine populations. In future years, the project will provide opportunities for numerous undergraduate researchers to study the effects of forest management on avian distribution, behavior, and phenology.
Miles Butler is an undergraduate researcher majoring in Conservation Biology at the University of Idaho. He is in the fourth year of his studies and would like to work in wildlife management and landscape ecology after college. He is from Post Falls, Idaho, and enjoys birdwatching, reading, and gardening.
Fall equinox bird n’ brunch picnic
Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 8 AM-12PM
Virgil Phillips Farm Park, near Moscow, ID
We’re kicking off our 2025-26 membership year with a new event for folks who have donated to and supported Palouse Audubon this past year – and also for anyone who’d like to join us as a member! (Families and plus-ones of members also invited.
We’re planning two bird walks in the morning between 8 – 11am, then a potluck brunch picnic starting 11am at one of the picnic shelters.
We will provide coffee/tea/water, tableware/utensils, and some food, please bring a potluck food item to share. Details are still being finalized – we’re planning fun swag for kids & adults, bird-themed games, silent auction items, and more. Definitely lots of birding and social time with birder friends old and new!
Virgil Phillips Farm County Park is 6 miles north of Moscow on west side of Hwy 95 – plenty of parking available, the picnic shelters are accessible by vehicle. Some trails are fairly level and gentle, others steeper – something for everyone.
Tools for finding, identifying, and enjoying birds more
Presented by Casey Lowder
Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 7:00 pm
Pullman Rec Center, 190 SE Crestview St., Pullman, WA
Birding is a quickly growing pursuit offering a range of experiences that can delight the nature-loving part of everyone. Learning to find and identify birds has never been easier due to the widespread availability of tools like eBird, identification apps, and physical field guides. This presentation will provide a practical overview of some of these tools with a local context.
Casey is a life-long nature lover and has been recording bird sightings and seeking out more and more bird species for more than eight years. His grandparents first connected him with birds with their backyard feeder setups in his native North Carolina. He was introduced to birding as a practice of close observation and record keeping by the birding community of New England during the years he lived there. Since then, he has been blessed with the opportunity to observe birds on four continents and has identified more than 1000 bird species in the wild. Casey has been leading local bird walks in the Palouse region since moving there in 2020 and works toward improving a variety of ecosystem components in his job at Pine Creek Conservation District.
