We are currently accepting donations to fund the 2025 owl banding project. Please join us in our efforts to continue this important research!
Lake Michigan Bird Observatory
Lake Michigan Bird Observatory’s (LMBO) mission is to advance the conservation of birds in Wisconsin and throughout the Western Great Lakes Region through coordinated research, monitoring and education. The Friends of Whitefish Point (FOWP) partnership with LMBO allows for financial donations made to FOWP to be tax deductible and ensures that these donated funds are earmarked for continuing migrant owl banding at Whitefish Point.
Project Owlnet
Founded in 1994, Project Owlnet facilitates communication, cooperation and innovation among a rapidly growing network of hundreds of owl-migration researchers in North America. By providing standardized methodologies and information on capture techniques, ageing and sexing resources, analytical tools, data archiving and other services, Project Owlnet makes it easier for ornithologists to lift the veil on owl movements and biology. As a result of Project Owlnet, Northern Saw-whet Owls are now the most widely banded species of owl in North America. The Whitefish Point owl banding effort is an essential part of Project Owlnet.
Northeast Motus Collaboration
The Northeast Motus Collaboration is a partnership between Willistown Conservation Trust, Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Project Owlnet, Powdermill Nature Reserve and The Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Their mission is creating and managing an interior northeastern U.S. telemetry network to track migratory animals while taking a landscape-scale approach to conservation – connecting enormous expanses of land through scientific research, for the benefit of both humans and wildlife.
Project SNOWstorm
Created in the winter of 2013-14 to study the largest invasion of snowy owls in the East in nearly a century, Project SNOWstorm is a unique collaboration of more than 40 scientists, bird banders and wildlife health professionals, all working as volunteers. The project has expanded its research into this beautiful and mysterious raptor, using state-of-the-art telemetry, banding, DNA and isotope analysis, toxicology screening and more — all funded by the public via crowd funding. Using cutting-edge tracking technology, Project SNOWstorm has followed the movements of 105 Snowy Owls to document their movements in astounding detail.
Canadian Migration Monitoring Network
The Canadian Migration Monitoring Network (CMMN) is a collaboration of bird observatories and bird banding stations across Canada that collect vital long-term data on population trends to keep track of of 200 difficult to monitor northern bird species, including owls. These scientific data advance the understanding and conservation of birds in Canada and North America. Whitefish Point owl banding data are provided to the CMMN for use in owl population trend monitoring.
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
Located in Duluth, MN, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (HRBO) is one of the premier raptor migration sites in North America. HRBO has been conducting systematic raptor counts and raptor banding since 1972. Their mission is to promote conservation of raptors and other birds in the Western Lake Superior Region through research, education, and stewardship. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory conducts owl monitoring and banding similar to that conducted at Whitefish Point and the owl banders at Whitefish Point collaborate with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory researchers on a variety of owl migration research questions.