USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center

Home
United States
Laurel, MD
USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center

Call Directions Website

COMMENT POLICY:
We welcome your comments and hope that our conversations here will be polite. You are responsible for the content of your comments.

Delivering trusted science for fish, wildlife, and habitat conservation while supporting informed decisions for a sustainable future of our nation's natural resources. We reserve the ability to delete any of the following:

violent, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
comments that threaten or harm the reputation of any person or organization
advertisements or solicitations of any kind
comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity
off-topic posts or repetitive posts that are copied and pasted
personal information including, but not limited to, email addresses, telephone numbers, mailing addresses, or identification numbers
comments which may cause public panic or falsely cite the deployment of emergency services (e.g., "major earthquake to strike Los Angeles in next 24 hours!"). In short: be nice, be mature, and add to the discussion. If you have any questions or comments about this policy, please email us. Note: If we do delete comments from this page, or associated USGS profiles, for violating our Comment Policy above, we will not collect any personal information related to the comment. We will only collect the comment itself. If we delete a comment, we will remove any personal information contained within that comment to the best of our ability, before capturing it. Content that we can remove from our Page includes status updates, comments, mentions, cross-posts, notes, or any other user-supplied content which is posted to the USGS page or any of it's modules or sections.

10/23/2026

Gray-cheeked Thrush or Bicknell's Thrush? That is the question.

Every fall migration, East Coast birders wonder just which thrush they are looking at. Even in the hand the similarities can be tricky. At the USGS Bird Banding Lab's Fall Migration Station, every thrush is carefully examined and measured. For the last year, the station has been collecting a wide variety of data on these thrushes for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies research on migratory stopover usage.

Current research shows that Bicknell's Thrushes can be separated, with caution, by a smaller wing and tail measurement. While the majority of individuals that pass through the station are Gray-cheeked Thrushes, there are usually one or two individuals every year that give the team pause.

📸: Bicknell's Thrush. Credit: Mikey Lutmerding, USGS Public Domain.

10/21/2026

How do you help native fish move upstream while making it harder for invasive species?

EESC research takes a closer look at that challenge by testing how different flow conditions and turbulence-generating baffles affect the swimming performance of brook trout, white sucker, and invasive sea lamprey.

After more than 13,000 fish passage attempts in a large experimental flume, we found that swimming performance varies dramatically among species and is strongly influenced by water velocity, slope, and structure design.

These results can help guide the development of fish passage systems that support native species while contributing to sea lamprey control efforts in the Great Lakes assisting both fish conservation and invasive species management.

Read more: https://ow.ly/vWzA50ZXLoq

📸: White sucker. Credit: Sam Stukel, USFWS, Public Domain.

10/19/2026

Smarter decisions today mean healthier wildlife tomorrow.

At the Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC), our experts use data, math, and cutting‑edge tools to help protect wildlife, strengthen communities, and support smart decision‑making for the nation.

From fighting invasive species and wildlife diseases to improving habitat restoration and supporting safer skies for pilots, EESC science is helping managers make smarter, more efficient choices every day. 🦌🐢🦅🌊

Curious how science shapes real‑world solutions?

Explore more here: https://ow.ly/fNZI50ZVAGO

📸: Invasive Zebra mussels attached to a boat anchor. Credit: USGS, Public Domain.

10/16/2026

Fall migration is full of surprises—especially when a familiar banded bird returns.

The Bird Banding Lab's Fall Migration Station is over halfway through their banding season. Every time the team carefully extracts a bird from the net, they look for the glimmer of a bird band. While most birds are unbanded when they fly into the net, recaptured banded birds give us some of the most exciting data. Each previously banded individual tells a different story.

From the bird that was banded just days ago and has not yet refueled to continue its’ migration, to the bird banded over a decade ago that sets the longevity record for its’ species. Although the former is rather common and the latter is rather rare, many birds fit somewhere along this spectrum. So far this year, the banding team has had several dozen birds that were banded in previous seasons.

A few of the exciting recaptures from this season:

💠An Ovenbird previously banded on June 14th, 2021. Despite over six years between first and most recent capture date, this bird has been recaptured only in fall of 2024. Who knows where this bird has gone all those other years?
💠A Northern Parula, originally banded in Fall of 2021
💠A Northern Cardinal, originally banded in Fall of 2019

All banding is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory.

📸: Ovenbird. Credit: Megan Evans, DOI Public Domain.

10/15/2026

Did you know the Patuxent Research Refuge is the only National Wildlife Refuge created specifically to support wildlife research?

As we celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week, let's celebrate the Patuxent Research Refuge established in 1936 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Refuge is home to the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, where scientists study both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems to support conservation across the nation.

At EESC, our expertise spans wildlife health and disease, invasive species, contaminants, species ecology, habitat and stream health, wetlands, geospatial modeling, remote sensing, population monitoring, and structured decision‑making.

EESC on the Patuxent Research Refuge is also home to several nationally and internationally recognized programs:
🔹The USGS Bird Banding Laboratory, central to bird conservation across the Western Hemisphere
🔸 The North American Breeding Bird Survey, guiding wildlife management for nearly 60 years
🔹The USGS Bee Lab, supporting research on native bees.

Science, conservation, and innovation come together here on the Refuge.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/TFXN50ZVRwO

📸: Rising mist and fall colors at Snowden Pond, Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD. Credit: USGS Public Domain.

10/14/2026

Did you know America’s National Wildlife Refuges protect thousands of species and support healthy communities?

This week is National Wildlife Refuge Week! National Wildlife Refuges provide vital habitat for native wildlife, help reduce flood and wildfire risks, improve air and water quality, offer opportunities for hiking, fishing, wildlife watching, and other outdoor recreation, and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits each year. They’re essential spaces where conservation, community, and nature come together and here at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, we’re proud to conduct research on the Patuxent Research Refuge that helps inform and strengthen these conservation efforts.

Many different species visit us on the Patuxent Research Refuge to include wild turkeys, white‑tailed deer, common five‑lined skinks, sweat bees, or even a palm warbler passing through.

📸1: A Palm Warbler during migration at Knowles Marsh on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD. Credit: Mikey Lutmerding, Permission granted for use by USGS.
📸2:Common Five-lined Skinks with ticks attached. Photo by Michael Lutmerding of the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD. Credit: Mikey Lutmerding, Permission granted for use by USGS.
📸3: Wild Turkeys near Knowles Marsh at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD. Credit: Mikey Lutmerding, Permission granted for use by USGS.
📸4: Lasioglossum sopinci, the undescribed male of this sand specialist, found along some lovely powerline habitat on Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge. Credit: USGS Bee Lab, Public Domain.
📸5: A male White-tailed Deer at Eastern Ecological Science Center located on the Patuxent Research Refuge. Credit: Mikey Lutmerding, USGS Public Domain.

10/13/2026

What happens when we equip a bird with a small lightweight leg-loop transmitter to learn more about its movements?

Our team recently completed a multi‑year study evaluating whether lightweight transmitters affect the return and nesting rates of adult and juvenile Common Terns (Sterna hirundo).

During the 2021 breeding season, we deployed two types of small leg‑loop transmitters on adults and pre‑fledgling juveniles. Initial observations suggested minimal short‑term impacts, but we needed more data to understand longer‑term effects.

By tracking marked birds from 2022–2025, we found that although none retained their transmitters in subsequent years (highlighting important considerations for tag retention), we were still able to evaluate potential lagged effects.

Here’s what we learned:
🔹Center‑weighted transmitters showed no negative effect on adult return or nesting rates.
🔹Rear‑weighted transmitters were linked to moderate declines in both return and nesting likelihood for adults and juveniles.

These findings help refine best practices for future tracking efforts and support ongoing work to balance technological advancement with wildlife safety and well‑being.

Read more: https://journal.afonet.org/vol97/iss3/art8/

📸: Poplar Island Common Terns. Credit: Prosser, USGS Public Domain.

10/09/2026

Every bird, every observation, every report; Every bit helps!

Tomorrow is World Migratory Bird Day and this year’s theme, “Every Bird Counts – Your Observations Matter,” highlights the incredible impact that community science has on understanding and protecting migratory birds.

From backyard birdwatching to coordinated surveys across continents, public participation helps scientists track species distribution, abundance trends, migration timing, and breeding success. These observations are essential for identifying conservation priorities and shaping effective action plans.

Here at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, we’re proud to support migratory bird science through two cornerstone programs:

🔹The USGS Bird Banding Laboratory: An integrated scientific program that collects, curates, archives, and shares data from banded and marked birds.
🔹The North American Breeding Bird Survey: The primary source of long-term continental data on bird population trends. Thousands of skilled volunteer birders contribute each year, helping us track changes in more than 500 species across North America.

And because migratory birds come in all shapes and sizes, how could we choose just one to celebrate on this feature a species Friday? Enjoy a few migratory species fun facts:

🟡Yellow Warbler: They migrate from Canada and the northern United States to Central and South America, and they sing the sweetest song that is a sure sign of spring migration.
🔵Osprey: Many North American Ospreys migrate thousands of miles each year, traveling from their northern breeding grounds all the way to Central and South America for the winter
🟢Common Loon: They can travel several hundred to several thousand miles during migration, and alternate between swimming and flying.
🔴Canada Goose: Highly adaptable migrants whose flyways stretch thousands of miles across the continent.

Thank you to everyone who helps monitor, protect, and celebrate migratory birds today and every day.

All banding is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory.

📸1: Yellow Warbler. Credit: Permission granted to EESC for use by Ikumi Kayama.
📸2: Osprey. Poplar Island, MD. Credit: Rebecca Lazarus, USGS Public Domain.
📸3: Common Loon. Credit: John Mosesso, USGS Public Domain.
📸4: Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Credit: John Pearce. USGS Public Domain.

10/07/2026

Proactive planning can make all the difference. 🦎

Managing emerging wildlife diseases is incredibly complex. There is often a lot of uncertainty and many competing goals to balance. Our team has been working on a transparent, science-based decision framework to help wildlife managers choose the most effective strategies when facing new ecological threats.

We applied this framework to the looming threat of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a deadly fungus that could seriously impact North American amphibians. By working closely with managers across the northeastern United States, we explored real-world decision challenges and evaluated different response options.

Our findings are clear: taking proactive action before Bsal arrives is consistently the most effective way to reduce disease risk. At the same time, we found that local conditions matter—meaning the best strategy can vary by location.

Although our work focused on Bsal, this decision framework can be used for many other conservation and biosecurity challenges. It brings together ecological forecasts, structured decision-making, and stakeholder values to support smart, informed actions that help protect our wildlife.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/VzF650ZTcbz

📸: Black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus). Credit: Alan Cressler, USGS Public Domain.

10/06/2026

Not all sturgeon migrate at the same time and that difference is vital to helping a recovering population.

A 10‑year acoustic telemetry study in the Hudson River uncovered two distinct migration strategies in endangered Atlantic Sturgeon and one of them reveals a hidden threat window.

Scientists tracked 195 individuals and discovered two consistent migration strategies:

🔹Short‑residency sturgeon following the familiar spring spawning run.

🔸 Extended‑residency sturgeon arriving later and staying up to 88 days longer, occupying river areas outside current conservation focus and facing increased risk from vessels, dredging, and changing conditions.

Current management strategies rely heavily on average spawning run timing. But this study shows that a sizeable portion of the population uses the river at different times and faces different risks. Incorporating phenotype‑specific patterns into environmental reviews and seasonal work windows could help better protect this species.

These behaviors remained stable year after year, showing that not all sturgeon follow population‑average patterns. Updating environmental reviews and seasonal work windows to include these extended‑use periods could improve protection for this endangered species.

Read more: https://ow.ly/WJBm50ZSFTy

📸: Atlantic Sturgeon. Credit: Ryan Haggerty, USFWS, Public Domain.

Address

12100 Beech Forest Road
Laurel, MD
20708

Telephone

+13014975500

Website

https://www.usgs.gov/eesc

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed government service in Laurel?