Community
Science
What is Community Science?
Community Science is collaborative research that provides everyone with the opportunity to participate, make observations, and contribute data to important scientific projects - regardless of their education or background.
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At Ijams Nature Center, volunteers and staff members contribute to 5 different projects that - while seemingly different - help shape a picture of how the timing of natural, periodic events shifts over time.
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Ijams Nature Center's current community science projects include: Bird Banding, Phenology Plots, Caterpillars Count!, NestWatch, and Avian Point Counts.
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
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The application window for 2026 community science volunteer opportunities opens at 8AM on January 24, 2026 and closes on February 7, 2026. To learn more about each opportunity and submit an interest form, visit the links below:
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Avian Point Counts - Interest Form
Bird Banding at Ijams
FALL THROUGH SPRING:
EXPLORING SEED DISPERSAL THROUGH SONGBIRDS
Ijams Nature Center began banding resident and migratory songbirds in 2025 to better understand how they utilize fruiting plants throughout the year. For this project, the banding team is especially interested in the consumption and dispersal of native vs. non-native invasive plant species from August through May each year. By looking at various sites across Ijams, they’ll track how songbirds use and influence specific habitats before and after active invasive species management. To do this, the banding team analyzes bird scat often deposited in holding bags during the banding process.
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HOW DOES BIRD BANDING WORK?
Bird banding is a research method used by trained individuals to safely capture birds and mark them with unique numbered bands. Data on each bird - such as weight, age, sex, etc. - is recorded and the bird is released after a band has been put on.​
While there are various banding capture methods, Ijams uses mist nets. These nearly invisible and lightweight mesh nets are set up between two poles. As birds fly into these nets, they "fall" into a pocket and are then taken out by trained staff and volunteers, put into a comfortable holding bag, and brought to the banding table to be documented, measured, and banded.
SUMMER:
MONITORING AVIAN PRODUCTIVITY AND SURVIVORSHIP
During the summer breeding season, Ijams participates in a continent-wide, standardized banding program called MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship). Banding stations participating in the MAPS program collect key data that helps to estimate vital rates - specific demographic parameters - like productivity, recruitment, and survival of individual bird species.
CATERPILLARS COUNT!
FALL THROUGH SPRING:
EXPLORING SEED DISPERSAL THROUGH SONGBIRDS
Caterpillars Count! is a community science project for measuring the seasonal variation, also known as phenology, and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders found on the foliage of trees and shrubs.