About this Collection
2025 Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo Survey Training
In coordination with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, the US Fish and Wildlife Service offers a Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveyor Training every year in New Mexico. The training will be offered at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antionio, NM. The dates for 2025 will be posted as soon as information becomes available. The training is comprised of an in-person classroom session and a field session. For questions and to register, please contact Jennifer Davis (Jennifer_Davis@fws.gov).
This training emphasizes identification of yellow-billed cuckoo habitats, species identification by sight and sound, and use of the survey protocol. If you have completed a previous training session for yellow-billed cuckoo surveys, it must have included a field portion, otherwise this survey training is mandatory for permit applicants who plan to conduct yellow-billed cuckoo surveys in New Mexico.
The primary objectives of the survey training course in New Mexico are to:
- ensure consistency and quality of surveys following Service-approved protocol;
- ensure surveyors meet all requirements of Endangered Species Act consultation and compliance;
- increase the number of qualified surveyors; and
- increase the Service’s knowledge of the distribution of this endangered bird.
Completion of the survey training course is a requirement for obtaining an ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) endangered species permit, which is necessary to conduct yellow-billed cuckoo surveys. If you intend to conduct surveys this year in New Mexico and do not hold a permit, please complete a permit application form as soon as possible.
Permit processing procedures necessitate applying 90-days in advance of planned surveys to ensure timely issuance of the permit. We strongly recommend applying for survey permits at least 3 month prior to the survey season to ensure the permit processing is completed.
If you have received a permit in the past few years and plan to continue surveying, please check your permit to see if you need to renew it. If you do, a letter stating that you have taken the survey training course, had a permit in the past, and are requesting renewal should be submitted to our Regional Office in Albuquerque prior to your permit’s expiration date.
Permit reports must be sent to the respective Ecological Services Field Office in the state(s) where surveys are conducted, immediately following each field season. Annual reports are necessary to maintain valid survey permits. These reports provide us with valuable information regarding distribution of yellow-billed cuckoo. Negative results are just as important to submit as positive results; in addition, annual reports should be submitted even if you did not survey for the species that year.
Please submit all survey forms in excel format electronically to the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office in addition to required submission locations based on your permit.