Migratory Bird Monitoring, Assessment and Conservation | F17AS00353

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00353

The grant opportunity titled "Migratory Bird Monitoring, Assessment and Conservation" (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00353) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Northeast Region announcement describing the intent to issue a single-source discretionary grant to the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) in Norwich, Vermont. It is explicitly described as a notification-only posting rather than a competitive call for proposals, meaning the agency is signaling its plan to fund one specific organization for a defined body of work rather than soliciting multiple applications.

This planned award is grounded in federal wildlife conservation authorities, specifically the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (as amended; 16 U.S.C. 742a-754) and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 2901-2911). The funding activity category is listed under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, reflecting that the work centers on applied research and analysis intended to support conservation decision-making. The CFDA (assistance listing) number associated with the opportunity is 15.655.

The primary purpose of the project is to support conservation and research activities focused on Bicknell's Thrush, a migratory songbird of conservation concern whose population dynamics are shaped by conditions across both its breeding and wintering ranges. The work described spans international wintering habitats in the Caribbean and long-term demographic research in the United States, with the broader aim of improving understanding of limiting factors and informing practical conservation actions.

The project has two main deliverables. First, VCE is to conduct a threat analysis of key wintering habitat blocks for Bicknell's Thrush in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In practical terms, this type of analysis generally involves identifying and evaluating pressures on the habitats the species relies on during the non-breeding season, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, land-use change, degradation of forest structure, human disturbance, and other localized or regional stressors that could reduce survival or habitat quality. By focusing on "key wintering habitat blocks," the project emphasizes places that are especially important for the species and where conservation attention may yield outsized benefits.

Second, the award supports a demographic population analysis based on a comprehensive assessment of 25 years of capture-recapture data collected at a long-term study site in Vermont. Capture-recapture datasets are widely used in wildlife biology to estimate survival, recruitment, population growth rates, and other demographic parameters by tracking marked individuals over time. A 25-year time series is particularly valuable because it can reveal long-term trends, year-to-year variability, and relationships to environmental conditions that shorter studies may miss. The stated goal of this analysis is to better understand the factors that limit population growth, which could include adult survival, juvenile survival, reproductive success, or other demographic bottlenecks that constrain recovery even when habitat is protected.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized as a grant with an award ceiling of $25,000 and an expectation of one award. The eligible applicant category is nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), consistent with VCE's nonprofit research and conservation profile. The posting shows a creation date of July 31, 2017, with an original closing date of August 4, 2017; however, because it is a sole-source notification, that date functions more as a public notice period than as a typical competitive deadline.

Overall, this opportunity is a targeted, modestly funded, research-and-conservation grant designed to strengthen the scientific basis for conserving Bicknell's Thrush by pairing on-the-ground assessment of wintering range threats in Hispaniola with rigorous analysis of long-term demographic data from a Vermont study population. The combined approach supports a full annual-cycle perspective, recognizing that effective migratory bird conservation depends on understanding and addressing constraints across breeding and wintering habitats.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Migratory Bird Monitoring, Assessment and Conservation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.655.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 31, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 04, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $25,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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