Featured Scientist

Banding an American Kestrel chick as part of a nest box monitoring study.


Battistone holding a Red-tailed Hawk trapped and banded at the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory.


Battistone holding a Prairie Falcon chick just prior to placing bands on the bird and returning it to the nest.

As CDFW’s Statewide Raptor Conservation Coordinator, Carie Battistone manages the department’s efforts related to conservation, policy, regulation and research of hawks, eagles, owls, condors and other birds of prey. Her responsibilities include overseeing listing petitions for endangered or threatened species, coordinating with a diverse set of partners on various research and conservation efforts including the Condor Recovery Program, Barred Owl Science Team, Northern Spotted Owl Interagency Working Group and Golden Eagle Science Team.

Battistone’s training includes two degrees from the University of California, Davis. She earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology and a master’s degree in avian ecology. Battistone began working for California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) as a contractor in the late 1990s, helping manage the state’s spotted owl database and conducting field surveys on grouse, willow flycatchers and great grey owls. After getting her master’s degree which included work on CDFW’s great grey owl project, she joined the department full-time in 2005, and in 2009 was hired as the state’s raptor coordinator.

What sparked your interest in raptors?

Raptors have always kind of been my interest – although I do have an interest in all wildlife, not just raptors. When I was a kid, my family went camping a lot and did a lot of activities outdoors. A love of the outdoors was instilled in me early. I became more interested in raptors while doing my undergraduate work. Raptors are these top predators with this powerful aura around them, but they still have their vulnerabilities and weaknesses. They need us to preserve habitat and identify threats.

What facts about raptors do you most enjoy educating people on?

I probably end up talking most about the threats raptors face. Since the public is drawn to raptors, we can use them to show the impacts of contaminants like lead and rodenticides. Anyone who sees an eagle go through the effects of lead toxicosis – which can include seizures and ultimately death – will get the message about the need to protect them from this outcome. People have to know how to use rodenticides correctly and how they can impact wildlife. It’s similar with some renewable energy projects. There are collision mortalities associated with wind energy projects, and even solar to some degree. Renewable energy is important, but again we should be thinking about them in light of their potential impacts. I don’t like being a ‘Debbie Downer’ when I talk about raptors, but I do want to convey the reality of the threats they face.

Are there any raptor species in California that people might not be familiar with?

The public may be less familiar with some individual species of raptors. For example, most people know the red-tailed hawk. In California, we have other species of hawks that have some very interesting habits, like the Swainson’s hawk, which makes a long-distance migration back and forth from South America in the winter to California to breed. The public may not be as familiar with some of the smaller owl species like the saw-whet owl, western screech-owl and elf owl. Most of the bigger more charismatic owls are well-known, such as the spotted owl and great-horned owl. But these small owls are very captivating! The public may not be aware of some of the major threats facing even the more well-known species, such as the spotted owl. The plight of the spotted owl is interesting because they have a long history of conflicts with the timber industry dating back to the 1990s when they were listed under the Endangered Species Act. More recently, the spotted owls face a new threat, the non-native barred owl. Barred owls are bigger, more aggressive, and eat a wider variety of prey, and they often displace spotted owls from their habitat. This presents a challenge for managers and conservationists because it becomes an issue of species vs. species. There has been a lot of tension because one proposal is lethally removing barred owls to allow spotted owls to thrive. We’re trying to do outreach to help the public understand what it would mean for the spotted owl if we don’t take action.

What’s the greatest challenge facing raptors as a whole?

I wouldn’t say there’s any one greatest challenge, but rather a whole suite of them. It depends on the species. The forests in our state are changing due to climate change, fires, disease, etc., so raptors that live in and depend on the forest – the northern goshawk and spotted owl for example – face their own set of challenges. Species like the elf owl may be experiencing habitat degradation and loss in desert riparian areas, heightened by impacts from climate change. Raptors that live in urban environments – like the peregrine falcon and Cooper’s hawk – face issues like poisoning and collisions with buildings. The grasslands in our state are disappearing, so birds that rely on those areas, such as the short-eared owl, are dealing with habitat challenges as well.

Are there any species of raptors that are thriving?

Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks and the peregrine falcon are doing fairly well, and all three are well-suited to live in urban landscapes. Bald eagles are making a comeback as well, though they are still listed as threatened. You can see bald eagles in a lot more places in California, which wasn’t the case years ago. There were only a handful of pairs in the northern part of the state, and now we’re seeing them throughout California and even nesting in urban areas. The Swainson’s hawk is listed as threatened, but we’re seeing population increases and range expansion from them.

Which species are you most concerned about?

I’m concerned about the American kestrel and short-eared owl. Kestrels are fairly common, but populations are declining – not just in California, but across the west. There are efforts to figure out what’s going on with the population before it reaches a critical point. Short-eared owls used to be more common in grassland habitats in California, even down into San Diego County. But now, it is rare to detect these birds breeding in the state. They’re a grassland dependent species, so they are most likely being impacted by the changing composition of grasslands in our state. There are areas in California where golden eagles are fairly dense, but they seem to be rarer in other areas of the state. In all cases, we don’t have a good sense of why these species are seeing declines. It may be due to prey availability, encroachment from urban landscape, decreasing habitat or contaminants.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Obtaining funding for much-needed research can be very challenging. Funding for raptor conservation, or nongame species in general, can be harder to come by than for game species. Also, it is sometimes difficult to create a meaningful and clear message to the public regarding some of the threats raptors face, and what people can do about these threats.

What’s the best part of your job?

Seeing a difference and making an impact. I enjoy bringing people together and talking about how to resolve an issue or how to do research in a meaningful way. With the science teams and workgroups that I help manage, the goal is often coming up with a realistic solution that also makes a difference. At the end of the day, it’s all about what we can do to benefit the species and their habitat.

Do you work directly with raptors?

Sometimes. For example, I contribute to the American Kestrel Partnership by helping band nestlings as part of the nest box program and trap and band adults during the winter. I also help do surveys on some species, like short-eared owls and Swainson’s hawks, and get to go out with some of the researchers to assist as needed with condors and prairie falcons. Occasionally I can make it out to help the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory with their annual banding program for migratory raptors.

What are your goals for CDFW’s raptor conservation program?

Besides continuing partnerships and research, one goal that I have is to build the department’s citizen science capabilities, so we can get assistance from the public for surveys and other needs we have a hard time funding with permanent staff. If we had a dedicated citizen science program, it could benefit not only raptors but so many other wildlife species. People are excited to help and getting them involved would create a good educational tool. It’s an excellent way to liaison with the public and get them engaged with the issues each species faces. People involved at this level really feel a sense of ownership about the wildlife they’re helping and are more apt to make decisions and take actions that help.

CDFW Photos.

Tim working a deer capture in Round Valley. The deer was captured with a net gun, blindfolded, and hobbled for helicopter transport to base camp or a central processing station.


Tim radio-collared and took samples from this anesthetized black bear during the 2016 Eastern Sierra Black Bear Study.

Tim Taylor is an environmental scientist for CDFW’s Inland Desert Region, which includes Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. He has spent his entire 17-year CDFW career in a single area of study – the Eastern Sierra – and he is only the third Mono County unit biologist in department history.

Like many other CDFW scientists, Tim earned his Bachelor of Science in wildlife management at Humboldt State. The Southern California native did myriad odd jobs to get through college, including working on a ski lift, putting up drywall and even thinning trees and fighting fires. After college, he worked as an independent biologist throughout California, Oregon and Nevada, conducting wildlife assessment surveys for a wide range of threatened and endangered species including desert tortoise, red-legged frog, spotted owl and Sierra Nevada red fox.

Today, Tim’s primary job duties include monitoring diverse wildlife species – including sage grouse, deer, pronghorn and bears – in a part of the state most Californians never have the opportunity to experience.

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in wildlife biology?

When I was a kid growing up in the June Lake area of the eastern Sierra, I always knew I wanted to be a wildlife biologist. I had the good fortune of getting to know the very first CDFW wildlife biologist for the Mono unit, Andy Anderson, and he took me into the field with him whenever possible. I got to participate in some amazing wildlife work, like trapping and relocating nuisance black bears (when we used to do that!), rearing Canada goose goslings, counting strutting sage-grouse and helping at deer hunter check stations. This work provided me with an early appreciation and knowledge of eastern Sierra wildlife and their habitats, and from that time on, the Mono unit biologist position became my dream job.

After Andy retired, I became good friends with his successor, Ron Thomas. He was also a great mentor. I started working for CDFW in the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep program with the hope of eventually transferring to the Mono unit position. Fortunately, after Ron retired, I was in the right place at the right time.

What are your current responsibilities?

Working as a unit wildlife biologist requires being a generalist with the knowledge and understanding of all wildlife that inhabit my work area. During any given day I can deal with a number of different wildlife species issues like sage-grouse habitat conservation, mule deer and pronghorn research, nuisance black bear complaints and talking with deer hunters about the best place to find a buck. My duties include wildlife resource assessment, habitat enhancement planning and implementation, hunting management, nuisance wildlife response and environmental review. I am currently involved with a number of different wildlife research projects, including a sage-grouse translocation effort to rescue a small, isolated sub-population near the Mono basin and a GPS collaring study of black bears to determine home range distribution and habitat use.

I also occasionally provide advice on how to reduce human-bear conflicts at the Mountain Warfare Training Center, a US Marine Corps installation in Mono County. I review environmental documents that relate to their training area, and work with new recruits on how to identify animals, as part of their survival training.

Which species do you work with most frequently?

Mule deer are the most conspicuous and widespread large mammal in the eastern Sierra. Mono county supports five large migratory herds. I manage 2 mule deer hunt zones, X12 and X9a. Hunt zone X12 comprises three herds that occupy northern Mono County. These are interstate herds that are jointly managed for hunting purposes by CDFW and the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Zone X9a comprises two herds that occupy southern and central Mono County. Those are managed solely by CDFW. Along with other CDFW biologists, I conduct population surveys and collect data on vital rates and nutritional condition as part of an integrated population monitoring approach for assessing the status of local deer herds.

Mono County also supports a large population of greater sage-grouse, which is part of the Bi-state Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of greater sage-grouse. The Bi-state DPS, which is genetically distinct from other sage-grouse across the range, occupies sagebrush habitat in Inyo and Mono counties in California and Douglas, Mineral, Lyon and Esmeralda counties in Nevada. Sage-grouse is a sagebrush obligate species, meaning it relies on sagebrush for its survival. They are also an umbrella species, used in making conservation related decisions that affect the sagebrush ecosystem. Our efforts to conserve the sage-grouse indirectly protects other sagebrush obligate species, such as pygmy rabbit and Brewer’s sparrow, that inhabit the sagebrush ecosystem.

Then there’s the eastern Sierra black bear. Their population has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, and therefore has created numerous management challenges. In most of the rural east side towns there is no regular garbage pickup, so people store their trash and take it to a landfill. This creates a situation where bears have open access to garbage that is not properly secured in a building or bear-proof container. Once a bear has become food-conditioned, it’s pretty much over. It will start breaking into homes and cabins next.

What project or accomplishment are you most proud of?

In 2007, CDFW acquired 1,160 acres of critical greater sage-grouse habitat in northern Mono County, which included two strutting grounds, brood rearing meadows and winter habitat. Approximately 900 of the 1,160 acres was proposed to be subdivided into 40 acre parcels, which included the only two remaining leks for this sub-population of sage-grouse, as well as some critical mule deer migration and summer range habitat. CDFW acted in a timely manner in acquiring the property, and in doing so, prevented the loss of this critical sage-grouse habitat.

Without the acquisition and eventual conversion of the property into a State Wildlife Area, these leks would have been destroyed resulting in the extirpation of this sage-grouse sub-population.

The acquisition was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Board, and was especially important because it was one of the many conservation actions that helped to prevent the federal listing of the Bi-state greater sage-grouse.

What project would you most like to do, given unlimited time or resources?

I would implement several much needed wildlife crossing projects that would include a combination of underpasses, overpasses and fencing to allow deer, bears and other wildlife safe passage across highway 395 in Mono County.

What do you love most about your job?

The fact that I have the flexibility to work with so many different wildlife species on so many different projects.

What advice would you have for a young scientist wanting to do what you do?

Try to become as diversified as possible with respect to your knowledge of wildlife throughout the state. Working as a unit biologist requires multiple species management so become a naturalist and develop a broad understanding of the species that inhabit your work area.

Photos courtesy of Tim Taylor
Top photo: Tim working on a Round Valley deer herd capture team