Life Net

BE A COST-SHARE BIRD BANDING VOLUNTEER IN ECUADOR. We have 2 positions available on the December 7-20, 2026 bird banding team in Ecuador.

Life Net Nature Ecuador Bird Monitoring Expeditions 2026
Cost-share Volunteer Training Experience

Learn or improve your bird banding and monitoring skills in the tropical Andes of western Ecuador. Help advance research on tropical montane forest bird communities in a variety of habitat types. Learn how to collect data to determine community and species-level responses to deforestation, forest recovery, landscape and climate changes. Your participation helps sustain an important protected area in the mega-diverse Choco Endemic Bird Area (EBA).

Cost-share volunteers/trainees assist Dr. Dusti Becker with long-term avian monitoring and conservation at a beautiful cloud forest protected area, Reserva las Tangaras. In exchange volunteers receive experience-based training in mist netting and bird banding, including the use of Hall traps for hummingbird banding, and an introduction to using molt to age birds.

Project Dates:
Team 1 August 9-22, 2026 (FULL/CLOSED)
Team 2 December 7-20, 2026 (2 positions available)

Where: Reserva Las Tangaras, a 130-acre nature preserve, boasts more than 30 species of hummingbirds, dozens of colorful tanagers, the largest regional Andean cock-of-the-rock display lek, and over 300 tropical bird species, many of which are Choco and Andean endemics. During the expedition, LNN teams typically detect between 175 - 200 different species of birds in and near the reserve, and see dozens of other species while traveling to and from the project site. The reserve is also home to endangered capuchin monkeys, spectacled bears, cougars, and myriads of other wildlife species, including several rare and endangered rain frogs.

Activities: Volunteers are trained (or refreshed on) setting up and monitoring mist nets, extracting birds from nets, carrying birds from nets to banding stations, and recording ornithological and ecological data in the field. Volunteers are also trained to band birds, including hummingbirds, making standard measurements. Volunteers enter team data.

The site is rugged, requiring above average fitness including: ability to hike on steep, potentially muddy and slippery terrain, and cover 2-4 miles on foot per day. People with back or joint impairments, or obesity, should look for different programs.

Volunteers will have some time to explore the Mindo area. The team will visit the higher-elevation Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve on the last day on the return trip to Quito. The December team participates in the Mindo Christmas Bird Count (CBC), which typically wins first or second place globally for bird species counted.

Food and Lodging: Accommodation is in a spacious research cabin, where each participant has a single bed mattress with mosquito netting, pillow, and bedding. Showers shower with hot water and flush toilets provide remarkable comfort for a field site. Meals are delicious, home-style Ecuadorian, prepared by excellent cooks, and vegetarian diets can be accommodated.
COST: Your contribution of $2450 covers your transportation during the field project in Ecuador, meals at RLT, lodging at RLT, reserve entrance fees, salaries for Ecuadorian cooks and para-biologists, leader's costs, and a special lunch at the Bellavista Reserve. Airfare to and from Ecuador and expenses in Quito before and after the expedition are not included.

Cost-share donations are used to operate the 2-week field expedition: providing the team with food, shelter, training and transportation, as well as purchasing new project equipment and supplies, and paying Ecuadorian staff. Any funding left over goes to sustaining Reserva las Tangaras, supporting year-round stewardship, educational programs, outreach materials about cloud forest wildlife, maintenance of trails and signs, cabin repairs, and feeding of resident hummingbirds.

This exciting conservation expedition begins and ends in Quito, Ecuador. The team meets at Posada del Maple, a small hotel in the Mariscal zone of Quito, the night before the project starts.
Contact Dr. Dusti Becker, [email protected], for further details and to obtain a Life Net Nature application form.

Qualifications: Experience with banding and mist-netting are desirable, but not required. We provide intensive training. Students and recent graduates will benefit from this great resume building experience. Professionals and retirees in field biology will enjoy the "adult summer camp" setting in tropical montane cloud forest and are much appreciated for experience they share. All participants have the option of using the project database for research publications, undergraduate projects, or graduate degrees.

Visit https://lastangaras.wordpress.com/who-are-we/ for more details about Life Net Nature and Reserva Las Tangaras.
To apply: Email a brief cover e-letter detailing your experience and interest in participating on the team to Dr. Dusti Becker, [email protected]. (Resume is optional and helpful). Dr. Becker will send you more information and an official Life Net Nature volunteer application form.

Have a beautiful summer! Happy Solstice. For friends down under and in Chile, we better say have a cozy winter!

Latest blog from Ecuador! A touching story you'll want to read.

Kim the Antpitta Recently we had a very special day with a guest that we will remember for a long time. Maria made the trek out here by herself, taking her time as she birded. When she arrived at the Cabana, we all…

Farewell to Hailee and Jonas (left) and welcome to Daley and Graham! We feel so lucky and honored to have such wonderful couples taking care of our natural area, Reserva Las Tangaras, in the Andes of western Ecuador.

The experience is like a mini-Peace Corps experience of 5.5 months, not 2 years, but still, it's a BIG commitment. You can learn more about these young people by reading their blogs at https://reservalastangaras.com. BTW, they are there to guide and host you, so come visit.

Hola! The new stewards Daley and Graham are here! We've spent the last few days learning the reserve and taking in all the amazing wildlife. We will do a more in depth blog post introducing ourselves but for now we'd like to take moment to say goodbye to Hailee and Jonas who did an amazing job during their time on the reserve. They spent the last few days giving us in depth training which was a lot of work, but don't worry we all still had tons of fun! Good luck to Hailee and Jonas on their next adventures!!!

¡Hola! ¡Los nuevos mayordomos Daley y Graham están aquí! Hemos pasado los últimos días aprendiendo la reserva y disfrutando de toda la increíble vida silvestre. Haremos un post más profundo presentándonos a nosotros mismos, pero por ahora nos gustaría tomar un momento para decir adiós a Hailee y Jonas que hicieron un trabajo increíble durante su tiempo en la reserva. Pasaron los últimos días dándonos un entrenamiento en profundidad, que fue mucho trabajo, pero no se preocupe, todos todavía tuvimos un montón de diversión! Buena suerte a Hailee y Jonas en sus próximos aventuras!