Charity

No one has ever become poor by giving, and when it comes to caring for animals and the environment, furries can do a lot of giving! Furvana is very happy to be working with Coastal Raptors for this year's event!

Coastal Raptors is an organization dedicated to providing research and education programs leading to better understanding and conservation of raptors in coastal environments. Active since 1995 and with a 501(c)(3) non-profit status since 2009, their primary goals are to:

• conduct research into the ecology of birds of prey endemic to coastal Washington;
• educate the public on the roles of these birds in our regional ecosystem;
• to help train aspiring wildlife biologists; and
• to collaborate with other experts in wildlife research and management.

Birds and raptors face many risks along our coastlines, including exposure to contaminants, disease, wind turbines, oil spills, severe storms, and human disturbances. Coastal Raptors is concerned about the long-term health and viability of these raptors and dedicates serious study to these animals and their vulnerabilities. They seek to provide information to both the general public, and scientists, land managers, and policy makers that may have an impact on raptors and their coastal environments.

Research

The Coastal Raptors charity documents raptors' use of Washington's coastal beaches through vehicle surveys. Since 1995, they have completed more than 1,000 of these surveys. This effort includes capturing raptors for banding and tissue sampling that tests for contaminants and disease. They attempt to re-capture banded birds once each year for additional tissue samples. Their primary focus is on peregrine falcons; more than 250 of these birds have been banded to date.

Two types of markers are used to identify birds for research. Visual identification leg bands are used for peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and common ravens. Wing tags are used for turkey vultures.

In 2012, Coastal Raptors worked with other partners to start work on a multi-year study to examine contaminant and disease exposure in avian scavengers on the coast of Washington and Oregon. The study's goals were to assess the health of these birds and evaluate the risk to endangered and key species in the coastal food web.

In 2018, Coastal Raptors joined Pennsylvania-based Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in researching site fidelity and migration patterns of turkey vultures using solar powered GPS satellite transmitters. Four vultures received transmitters that June. One stopped working only two short months later, and the bird was suspected to have been shot. The other three spent the summer in the Pacific Northwest before migrating to Mexico for the winter, then returning again in the spring.

Education

You can learn more about the results of their published surveys on the Coastal Raptors website here:

https://coastalraptors.com/Research.aspx

Contact

Coastal Raptors' executive director Dan Varland will be joining us at Furvana this year, along with several members of his passionate volunteer team. Since 1995, Dan Varland has led the raptor monitoring program on the coastal beaches of western Washington. In 2009, he founded and became the executive director of Coastal Raptors. Dan holds BS and MS degrees in zoology from Eastern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in animal ecology from Iowa State University.

Learn more about Dan, his friends, and their mission to help and better understand these beautiful animals at www.coastalraptors.com.