Phil Unitt delivering his talk, An archaeological specimen of an Eider from San Diego County, California, at the 2025 conference in Yakima, WA. Photo: Lauren Smith.
Abstracts are being accepted for scientific presentations at the 50th Annual Conference of Western Field Ornithologists (WFO), hosted by Klamath Bird Observatory and Oregon Birding Association, 17–20 September 2026. The event will be held at the Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites in Ashland, Oregon. Science sessions are always one of the highlights of WFO’s conferences. The 2026 sessions will be held on the afternoons of 18 and 19 September (Friday and Saturday).
Oral presentations should reflect original research or summarize existing unpublished information, and should be presented in a manner that will interest both serious amateur and professional field ornithologists. All researchers, including students, are encouraged to present.
Talks relating to the following themes are solicited:
- Status, distribution, migration, and population dynamics of birds
- Systematics and biogeography of birds
- Ecology, behavior, and evolution of birds
- New information on avian field identification problems
- Science-based conservation and management of birds
- Techniques for field study of birds, including censusing, monitoring, and other methods; and results of studies applying such techniques
Research described should apply to birds of the WFO region: western North America (from Alaska through Mexico, and the Great Plains to the Pacific coast) and the eastern Pacific Ocean. All talks should identify study objectives, describe methods and data analysis, present results, discuss the significance of the research, and propose future research directions. Oral presentations will be allotted 15 minutes, including 3 minutes for questions and discussion. We expect to have sufficient time in the schedule for about 20 presentations.
Please submit an abstract of your presentation electronically to Dan Ruthrauff at drruthrauff@gmail.com no later than 1 March 2026, following this format (all in Times New Roman, 10-point font):
YOUR LAST NAME, YOUR FIRST NAME 1 and (if applicable) CO-AUTHOR FIRST NAME, CO-AUTHOR LAST NAME2 [all caps]. Title of your talk. 1Your affiliation and/or sponsoring organization(s), if any, complete mailing address; e-mail address [all in italics]. 2Co-author affiliation and/or sponsoring organization(s), if different, complete mailing address, if different; e-mail address [all in italics].
Brief (300-word maximum) summary of the objectives, methods, results, significance, and broader applicability of your study (Times, 10-point type).
Use superscripts only if coauthors have different contact information. Also, please include a brief (60-word maximum) bio for the presenting author. Presenters need not be members of WFO, but they must register for the conference.
Student presenters: WFO will offer a limited number of scholarships and travel awards for the conference. More information will be available soon on the Student Programs Scholarships & Grants page.
Contact Dan with any questions, and please visit the WFO Annual Conference web page for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Ashland!
November 2025 | Dan Ruthrauff, WFO Vice President
Hi Dan,
I wanted to enquire about the deadline for abstraction submission. In a few places it says March 1, 2026, but on the main conference page it also says March 15th? I run a multi-decade Swainson’s Hawk study about an hour from Ashland (Butte Valley, California). Given the conference location I would really like to attend and present. Are you still accepting abstracts? Thanks!
Author
Thank you for letting us know- we had originally anticipated needing to extend the deadline, but that ended up not being necessary. If you have not already, I recommend emailing Dan directly for clarification. Thank you!