"I have never in my whole life seen the birds that I saw, like a blue jay and yellow warbler"  "Our field trip was the best thing I've ever been to."  "I like how you put the bird in a tube to see how much it weighs."  "People who band birds are cool."  These are a few of the comments from 5^th graders from a Marshall middle school after visiting the Grand Pass Monitoring Station this May.  Dana Ripper, director of the Missouri River Bird Observatory , and her staff treated the kids to a fun and fact-packed experience that included banding demonstrations, bird identification,  information on bird habitats, and games about bird migration.  Foundation support helped bring the fifth graders to the station and also paid for a biology intern from Missouri Valley College Read More

Foundation protects Missouri bird habitat in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula

Many of Missouri's birds overwinter in tropical habitats in Central America and eastern Mexico.  Long before Cancun and the Riviera Maya became tourist destinations migrant birds from Missouri were using this part of the Yucatan peninsula for migration stopovers and winter habitat. On their return trip to the U.S, many birds must first stop and forage here--refueling for their 12-18 hour flight across the Gulf of Mexico April 2009 MO Conservationist Article Going South. Tourist developments and urban sprawl continue to reduce the amount of bird habitat in the Yucatan.  The Foundation recently teamed up with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Audubon Society chapters, the American Bird Conservancy, and Mexican conservation groups to expand the Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area west of Cancun.  MCHF provided $30,000 from its Missouri Tropical Bird Account to the project, helping to acquire 1,600 acres of suitable habitat north of Cancun.  Wood thrushes, prothonotary warblers, blue-winged warblers, Baltimore orioles and summer tanagers are just a few of many Missouri migrants that use this area.