Fall Newsletter 2025

Investing in Animal Care Ex

This spring, the Highlands Biological Foundation staff participated in a two and a half day Animal Ambassador Training led by wildlife care expert Amanda Fyfe, whose 15 years of experience include work with the Audubon Zoo and the Museum of Science in Boston

The training focused on advancing our team’s knowledge of ambassador animal care, strengthening our approach to welfare, enrichment, and longterm collection planning for the reptiles and other animals housed at the Highlands Nature Center Through hands-on instruction, classroom sessions, and a detailed review of our existing care practices, Amanda provided valuable guidance to help us refine enclosures, enhance daily care protocols, and develop strategies that align our animal collection with our conservation mission

This professional development investment reflects HBF’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest standard of care for our animal ambassadors while ensuring they continue to inspire curiosity, compassion, and environmental stewardship among all who visit the Nature Center.

BatPack Project

HANNAH SHEPARD RESEARCH ASSISTANT | UNC / WCU

This year, the BatPack project traveled from Georgia to Virginia, covering over 70 miles on the Appalachian Trail! While spending 8 weekends hiking through beautiful weather and diverse terrain, we were able to get a first-hand look at why these locations hosted such different outcomes in bat activity. Parsing through over 6,000 recordings in just eight nights, we were able to evaluate which sites had the most activity, greatest species diversity, and which had the greatest presence of endangered species!

This summer was an absolutely unforgettable experience for the BatPack crew in many ways. Throughout the summer, we also had the privilege of watching a new generation of life emerge-from bear cubs in the Smokies to foals in

Grayson Highlands, we got to see just how much the Appalachian Trail had to offer in Southern Appalachia!

More broadly, 4 out of 8 trips recorded federally endangered bat species, including Gray Bats, Northern Long-eared Bats, and Indiana Bats! Their presence showed us just how important the Appalachian Trail and local conservation efforts are to sustaining these threatened species. Even though the Appalachian Trail is hiked by thousands every year, bats were still able to rely on and even thrive in forested areas with high human traffic with the help of sustainable practices.

More specifically, on just the second trip of the summer, our section from Deep Gap to Dick's Creek was the most active night-- 770 recordings were able to be identified! In addition, 9 of 13 species found in western North Carolina were present in just one night!

These experiences were made unforgettable by the folks we got to meet along the trail, whether they joined us as newcomers looking to become seasoned backpackers or were thru-hikers turned friends! We were happy to meet you and walk the same path this summer and hope to see you again next year!

SUMMARY STATS

2025 HBS MAPS BANDING RESULTS

MAPS Bird Banding

In 2025, Highlands Biological Station hosted the sixth con of Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) banding in partnership with Blue Ridge Bird Observatory Overall, total birds handled and species diversity decreased compared to 2024, with 20 species recorded this year

Despite this, several species showed notable increases, including Slate-colored Junco, American Robin, and Black-and-white Warbler, each more than doubling in numbers. Some species experienced declines, such as Song Sparrow and Gray Catbird. Highlights for 2025 included the first-time banding of American Redstart and Orchard Oriole, while four neotropical migrant species present in 2024 Chestnut-sided Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Red-eyed Vireo were not recorded this year.