Since 2021, UW-Green Bay’s Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, Northeastern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, and Audubon Great Lakes formed a deep, collaborative partnership with the Oneida Nation through the successful implementation of a volunteer bird monitoring program at multiple restoration sites on the Oneida Nation Reservation located near Green Bay, Wisconsin. With the help of 100+ volunteers, we have conducted breeding grassland, marsh, and forest bird surveys and spring and fall migratory shorebird and waterfowl surveys at locations spread across five restoration sites, totaling >200 bird species. Program goals include 1) collecting an inventory of bird use on Oneida’s restoration lands, 2) providing bird-informed land management guidance to the Oneida Nation at their key restoration sites, 3) building a community of birdwatchers, 4) integrating Oneida’s beautiful culture, history, and language throughout the project with the leadership of an Oneida Tribal Elder, and 5) building bridges between the Oneida and non-tribal communities. Our collaborative project has witnessed incredible successes in terms of bird data collected; the integration of Oneida culture, history, and language into the project; a summer nature camp for Oneida youth; number of people engaged; volunteer events within the Oneida community; and land management decisions made. We will provide a brief overview of the bird monitoring program, describe how Oneida’s bird data are informing conservation and management, highlight how we are integrating Oneida knowledge into the project, and share a few “lessons learned.”
