Collaborative Observitories for Natural Environments (CONE)

If you are unable to visit the Welder Refuge in person we welcome you to sign up and log on to watch wildlife as it wanders through the CONE site located on the Refuge. An acronym for Collaborative Observatories for Natural Environments, CONE is a project that is centered on a telerobotic camera located on the Welder Wildlife Refuge that is the basis for a citizen science project and a networked telerobotic observatory game. 

Researchers have learned that subtropical species of birds such as the green jay, great kiskadee, and white-tipped dove are now being observed further north than their historical range; however, the reasons for such expansions are currently unknown. The goal of this project is to use the CONE observatory to help determine if such sightings are: 1) representative of rapid and recent changes in breeding range, or 2) the result of normal bird vagrancy and dispersal.

The CONE site includes a telerobotic camera that viewers may operate online, as well as a variety of wildlife feeding and watering stations and a native plant garden, all of which may be viewed through the CONE website. Sign up, log on, and participate in the interactive fun of watching spectacular wildlife as it wanders through the CONE site near the Refuge Headquarters. 

This project was made possible through collaborative efforts between the following: