Calling all wildlife watchers! The Iowa DNR will be holding one training opportunity for people interested in becoming volunteer Bald Eagle or Osprey nest monitors. The workshop will be held virtually via Zoom on Saturday, February 7th from 12:00 pm to 4:00pm. Space in the workshop is limited so please register only if you are serious about volunteering for the survey. More information about what is required to be a bird nest monitor is below. Participants are welcomed statewide but most known nests in Polk, Johnson, Linn and Story counties have monitors so volunteers in these counties may need to travel some distance to monitor a nest.
Community science volunteers have been helping to monitor Iowa’s eagle and Osprey populations for several years. In 2025, they monitored almost 400 eagle and 70 osprey nests! Prospective monitors who attend a workshop will learn about this program and how to get involved and monitor a nest in their area of the state.
To be a nest monitor you must have a good pair of binoculars and it is highly recommended that you have a spotting scope. We will try to match you up with a nest near your home base but travel may be necessary. The time commitment for conducting the survey and submitting data is roughly 8-12 hours total between March and July each year, depending on travel time, and will require multiple visits to a nest, watching the nest for 30 minutes at each visit.
Registration for this workshop will close on Wednesday February 4th or whenever the attendance limit is reached.
Have questions? The Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring webpage may help answer them. If you wish to be placed on a waiting list for this workshop or a notification list for future workshops you can email Stephanie at vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.
Need to report an eagle nest that you have found?
Please use our online form on the Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring webpage. Thank you!