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Summit County staff report 1,446 birds and 67 species in 2025 monitoring
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Summary
Staff told OSAC that 88 point-count surveys at five Summit County properties in 2025 detected 1,446 individual birds representing 67 species; Doig Homestead had the greatest species richness and all sites had Simpson diversity indices over 0.9.
At the Oct. 1 OSAC meeting, a staff member presented the third-year bird-monitoring results from June and July 2025: staff completed 88 point-count surveys across five properties and detected 1,446 individual birds representing 67 unique species. Doig Homestead recorded the highest species richness (46 species), followed by Swan River, Peabody Placer, Cobb and Ebert, and Tenderfoot Meadows.
Staff said the team used four randomly selected points per property with four repeat surveys per point (16 surveys per property) and added Peabody Placer this year to better understand how forest treatments affect avian diversity. To quantify biodiversity, staff applied the Simpson Index of Diversity and reported index values over 0.9 for all five properties in 2025.
OSAC recommended recruiting volunteers and engaging schools for point counts, making the full report publicly available on the County website, installing bird boxes to increase habitat heterogeneity, and pairing point counts with broader biodiversity studies such as those conducted by Colorado State University to refine management strategies.
The staff presenter noted the full 2025 monitoring report was included in the meeting packet; OSAC asked staff to pursue volunteer recruitment and web publication.