Organizer: Ryan Fisher, Royal Saskatchewan Museum 

Type: All-day workshop

Many teaching and museum collections rely on the creation of avian study skins, yet the skills necessary to create study skins are not frequently taught at post-secondary institutions. This workshop led by museum professionals will guide you through the creation of avian study skins from start to finish, as well as provide you with valuable insights into the ornithological data that is generated throughout the process. During this hands-on workshop you will practice taking precise measurements and skinning, dissecting, stuffing, and sewing techniques to create an avian study skin. You will also learn about the most effective materials and methods to ensure that your study skin lasts in perpetuity. At the end of the workshop, you will have the hands-on knowledge to create your own study skins and will receive reference material to take back to your institution to make study skins on your own. This will be a lab-based workshop and so you must be comfortable with dissections and have good manual dexterity to work with small tools such as scalpels and tweezers. There will be a 12-person limit for the workshop to ensure that there is a good presenter to participant ratio. 

 Contact: ryan.fisher@gov.sk.ca

Organizer: Tyne Baker, A/Vian Eco

Type: All-day workshop

Through her work at A/Vian Eco, presenter Tyne Baker processes large audio and photo datasets regularly with computer assistance. She hears the interest, excitement, and concern around implementing these tools from our community of practitioners. If she can analyze years of avian acoustic data practically, so can you! Join Tyne for a short intensive workshop, where she demystifies the world of computer-assisted audio processing and species identification. Discover the historical evolution of "AutoID" in Ecology, gain high-level insights on the inner workings of machine-learned models, and explore current automated techniques to augment large dataset review. You can look forward to discussion of bioacoustic indices, standard statistical models, brand new AI models like BirdNet and Perch, practical examples, and more. Participants willing to download free software BirdNet Analyzer and Kailedescope Lite will be welcomed to “play-along” through the practical step-by-step, with the practice data to be supplied. Most importantly, you will learn to systematically evaluate models and methods before selecting them for use in your research program, and to implement validation steps for any model that will improve confidence in your results.

Contact: tyne.baker@avianeco.com

Organizer: Kara Lefevre, Thompson Rivers University

Type: Half-day workshop (AM)

This workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss the peer-review process with current and past members of the editorial team at Avian Conservation and Ecology. The aim is to support people in framing their work for publication, especially early-career and other researchers from under-represented communities. The focus will be sharing guidance about how to plan for dissemination of research outcomes in and beyond the field of ornithology. 

Contact: klefevre@tru.ca

Organizer: Sunny Tseng, University of Northern British Columbia

Type: Half-day workshop (AM)

Since its release, BirdNET has been widely adopted by ornithologists and researchers worldwide. Trained on extensive datasets from Xeno-Canto and the Macaulay Library, the latest BirdNET model can identify over 6,000 bird species globally. A key advantage of BirdNET is its open-source nature, allowing scientists to contribute to its development and adapt the algorithm for various applications. All of BirdNET’s source code is publicly available on its GitHub page: BirdNET Analyzer. This workshop offers a comprehensive introduction to BirdNET, highlighting its applications in scientific research and citizen science projects, such as BirdNET Pi and Bird Weather. We will cover the background of BirdNET, including how its models are trained and how to properly interpret its outputs. Participants will gain hands-on experience running BirdNET on their laptops, including setting up the BirdNET environment, understanding parameter settings, and using BirdNET to process large acoustic datasets collected by autonomous recording units (ARUs). By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped to leverage BirdNET for their own research and conservation projects. 

Contact: sunnyyctseng@gmail.com

Organizer: Fred Tremblay, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Type: Half-day workshop (PM)

In Canada, migratory birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, which prohibit the harming, harassing, taking migratory birds, and the disturbing, removing, or destroying their nests and eggs. Despite these protections, approximately 269 million birds are killed annually in Canada only due to otherwise legally conducted human activities, a phenomenon known as incidental take. Sources of incidental take are diverse and include for example mortality due to window collisions, fisheries bycatch, powerline electrocution or collisions and more. Striking a balance between protecting migratory birds, respecting rights holders, and addressing stakeholders' interests is a significant challenge to the development of a regulatory regime. Consequently, strong scientific input is essential to inform and support this initiative. This workshop will examine the concept of incidental take, provide a platform for the scientific community to share their perspectives on a regulatory framework, and discuss how research can effectively guide policymakers in shaping regulatory regimes. Additionally, it will focus on strategies researchers can use to present their findings in ways that maximize their impact on policy development.

Contact: frederique.tremblay@ec.gc.ca

Organizer: Elly Knight, Boreal Avian Modelling Project 

Type: Half-day workshop (PM)

The Boreal Avian Modelling project (BAM) produces avian abundance models for 143 landbird species at five year intervals from 1990 to 2020, allowing the analysis of abundance and distribution across space and time. The goal of this workshop is to introduce users to the BAM landbird models, where to access them, and how to use them to understand Canadian landbird populations and habitat relationships. The workshop will introduce participants to two tools. First, BAMexploreR is a new R package that allows users to download model predictions and interrogate them, including estimating population sizes, determining relative importance of environmental predictors, and calculating core habitat area. Second, BAM’s Google Earth Engine app allows users to quickly view the BAM landbird models and their uncertainty alongside other imagery at various extents. This workshop will be of interest for ornithologists studying or managing landbird species, particularly in the boreal forest, as it will provide a tool for understanding state-of-the-art estimates of landbird abundance and distribution across Canada from 1990 to 2020. Participants are encouraged to bring their own area of interest and focal species to the workshop.

Contact: ecknight@ualberta.ca

Organizer: Frontier Labs 

Type: afternoon 1.5 hr session (Thursday August 14, 2025)

Join Michael from Frontier Labs for a hands-on workshop on acoustic localisation. Learn just how easy it is to use time difference of arrival (TDoA) to locate animal calls in 3D space. Explore how Frontier Labs' recorders and software simplify this powerful tool for wildlife monitoring, and population and behavioural studies.

Organizers: Wildlife Acoustics

Type: morning 1.5 hr session (Saturday August 16, 2025)

Sound analysis is increasingly becoming a valuable tool for biologists, environmental scientists and managers to survey and monitor wildlife populations. It is currently used to aid in resource management, habitat health assessment, regulatory compliance goals, animal behavior studies and even documenting the effects of climate change. Recording sound with a bioacoustics recorder is a reliable way to meet these project objectives. Bioacoustics is a non-invasive, cost-effective and an unbiased method for studying animal presence. Biologists all over the world have made the Song Meter platform the standard for bioacoustics recording with over 150,000 recorders deployed in 90 countries. This hands-on workshop will teach participants the features and set up of the Song Meter Mini 2 recorder to monitor for birds, frogs, and other wildlife!