After finishing my undergraduate degree in Wildlife Conservation at University of California, Davis, I had the opportunity to join Dr. Noah Perlut’s lab as a new master’s degree student studying the breeding ecology of Bobolinks on the farm.

Bobolinks are an amazing species of bird. They nest on the ground in grassland and are long-distance migrants who travel all the way to South America during the winter every year. My advisor Noah has been studying their breeding ecology in Vermont for 22 years, and the work I’m doing on the farm will be a sister project focusing on the small population here. The Bobolink population that breeds on the farm is relatively newly established one (after Kernza are planted in Field #8) and very isolated compared to the bigger population in the Vermont site, so it is interesting to compare the ecology and behavior of the two populations. We catch the birds on the farm, band and measure them, collect blood samples, and put tracking devices on them. The tracking device will tell us about their daily movement on the farm and (hopefully) the route they will take during migration. We will also monitor the survival of their nests. 

As a child I knew I like animals, and the only career I could think of that works with animals is being a vet, so I came to study animal science at UC Davis. Then I discovered the major Wildlife Conservation, and I found it much more interesting to me. I love fieldwork more than clinical work too, so I switch to Wildlife Conservation. I fell in love with birding during the start of the pandemic, and now it has become the most important part of my life! I grew up in a big city with not much green space left, so when I arrived in such a natural environment during my undergraduate years, I made connections with the wild animals immediately. Learning bird language and behavior is my favorite. Now after being an avid birder for three years, I chase rarities and make my own documentaries of them.

That we can use the newest technology and put on backpacks on the bobolinks and know their position through satellite signals. How amazing is that!

I’m mainly studying their movement and behavior, so I’ll be looking at how they use the landscape, how they use their resources. Being a fast-declining species, I would say the most important thing I learned from them might be that their habitat requirements might be more strict than what we thought. Because last year there were a dozen of them, and the breeding success was not good because predation rate is high in this field full of mice. So, this year they decided to not come here. They learned from breeding success previous years for deciding where to breed this year.

We need to provide high quality and long-lasting fields for them, because they rely on the stable breeding ground that they can return year after year. For example, last year a bird breed here, and the nest got eaten, so she knows, Oh, this is not a good ground, and then he needs to choose another ground, and it’s an energy expenditure for the birds to switch, to do a lot of those flying scouts to look for potential nesting grounds, but having a long-lasting and high quality ground that can be, the birds can breed there for years after years, might be helpful for their population.

Being not that powerful and strong in strength may mean it will take longer for me to set up a mist net than Noah for example. When multiple people are here doing the work together, we can just stick the metal pole deep in the ground that we use to stabilize our mist nets.. But I can’t do that myself. I have a heavy drill with me, and I will drill a hole first, then I can get the metal pole into the ground alone. I need to carry a drill to the field if I am going to catch a bird by myself. I drill a hole in the dirt and then stick the pole into the hole. I may not have as much physical strength, but there’s also a way I can do the same job.

Finding a nest. It’s always a great discovery and made me imagine that I revealed the hidden secret of this bird and no one on earth beside me and this bird know where his nest is , and it’s secretive and takes a lot of patience and work to locate the nest. Sometimes you can find it by luck, but most of the time for me, it takes a long time of observation. It’s really rewarding feeling when I find one.

If you’re lucky, you can flush a bird directly beneath your legs and it might be easy to locate. But if you are observing a bird, like going into the nest, and you only know a general area where the nest feed. You’ll need to sit there and watch for the birds coming in and out, in and out for many, many times and try to narrow the area and then you go, like, it usually takes a long time, maybe hours, one hour or two hours of waiting. I try to sit there, pay full attention on the bird, see where she lands. And in this, after she lands, you must stare at that grass for maybe 10 minutes or 20 minutes and sometimes a long time and wait for the birds to fly out again and you need to follow the birds to see where she lands. And it’s just a really long time of observation, so you can’t be distracted by other birds or other stuff, because when you look at another one and you don’t know if your previous bird has flown, then your previous work will be wasted. Patience is important. Even if you are not seeing anything in the field, you’re staring at the grass, you need to wait for the birds to come out again and not be disturbed by other stuff.

“Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?”

— E.O. Wilson