Powdermill Nature Reserve gets $1M grant toward new avian center, research

A $1 million Richard King Mellon Foundation grant will help Powdermill Nature Reserve construct a new Avian Research Center while expanding related activities and programs.

The two-year grant includes $700,000 for the new center, which should cover about a third of the project’s cost, according to John Wenzel, director of the nature reserve in Rector.

Plans call for a 2,700-square-foot facility, representing a major upgrade from the current research space of 150 square feet, in a converted farm maintenance building.

“We have one of the leading programs for studying migratory birds and we’ve expanded beyond the capacity of one single small room,” Wenzel said. “This grant recognizes that we have grown well beyond the little bird-banding station that has been a source of pride for 60 years. We now play a major role nationally and internationally.”

Wenzel noted Powdermill, a research site of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, is a prime spot for studying migratory birds that follow the adjacent Appalachian Mountains as they fly north and south between warm-weather and winter habitats.

He said the current research center is visited by more than 400 people annually, ranging from students to international experts in ornithology.

“That tiny room can’t take it,” he said.

The new center would feature a large bird-banding and seminar area, accommodating up to 25 people including visitors; a separate banding area for use by staff and volunteers; a bird holding area; two covered porches for outdoor banding demonstrations; offices, a break room and a kitchen.

The Mellon Foundation grant also will support Powdermill’s research into technologies for tracking birds, management strategies for at-risk species and populations and the effects of habitat and species loss on migrating birds.

“We’re expanding our research to study current conservation issues like bird-window collisions or using new technologies to track birds as they travel thousands of miles between their breeding and wintering grounds,” said Lucas DeGroote, Powdermill’s avian research coordinator.

Powdermill has received additional funding, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to support wildlife tracking innovations. Spring bird-banding operations at Powdermill were canceled this year because of concerns related to the covid-19 pandemic.