Southern Sierra Research Station

The Southern Sierra Research Station (SSRS) is a non-profit organization located in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada. Through basic and applied research, we strive to understand the biological processes that affect wildlife populations and species diversity in our local area and beyond.

The video above describes the ongoing long-term research that our Research Director Mary Whitfield has conducted on Southwestern Willow Flycatchers, both in the Kern River Valley and Central America. This type of research is at the core of what we do, and donations to our general funds support exactly this type of work!

Our current campaign is to fund our MAPS bird banding station at the Audubon Kern River Preserve in Kern County, for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. This station operates 9 full days each season, with expert banders taking critical measurements on birds to monitor populations on this special habitat. MAPS, or "Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship," is part of the Institute for Bird Populations continent-wide collaborative effort among many groups to assist in the conservation of birds and habitats through bird banding. You can even visit us and see your donation dollars in action!

We are also working hard to maintain and expand our network of Motus towers in Kern County and across California. These towers are part of a growing network that pick up radio signals from tagged birds and give us unprecedented information about the movements and habitat use patterns of birds and soon other types of wildlife (lizards, etc!). We have been leading this cutting edge new technology and hope to expand it greatly (with your help!) in the coming years. If you are interested in donating to this project please note that on your donation!

Additionally, we collaborate with government, academic, and conservation organizations, and strive to increase our scientific knowledge of the species we research, so that we may better inform environmental policy and encourage public appreciation within the region. Over the years, we have been involved with research and monitoring projects on many species of conservation concern including Southwestern Willow Flycatchers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Least Bell’s Vireos, and Tricolored Blackbirds. The Kern River Valley is a hotspot for bird diversity and western bird migration, and we hope our research will reveal new information and bring attention to the beautiful biodiversity that we have in Kern County.

Who We Are

The Southern Sierra Research Station is a non-profit organization located in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Our mission is to conduct, promote, facilitate, and disseminate biological research that informs conservation decisions and environmental policy, and contributes towards understanding, sustaining and conserving natural resources and sensitive species. Our approach is both regional and international, reflecting the life cycles of the species we study, and is enriched by collaborative partnerships across the Americas.