---

A research effort involving federal, state, and local partners is poised to discover new insights about the behavior of Colorado's urban coyotes and help wildlife managers improve strategies for dealing with these clever canids.

"As coyotes have adapted to living in urban environments, they've become highly tolerant of people," said Breck. "Because of this we have seen a serious increase in human-coyote encounters and conflicts. The general feeling of managers is we're seeing bolder, more aggressive coyotes."

Coyote-human conflicts have been on the rise in the Denver Metro area since 2008.  Historically, about one person reported being bitten by a coyote each year. During the past four years, 16 people have reported being bitten.  Most incidents involved suspected feeding of wildlife or the presence of a dog or dogs, which can make coyotes territorial.

The study, to be funded by the U. S. Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Center, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the City and County of Broomfield, Jefferson County, and the City of Lakewood, will focus on Adams, Broomfield, and Jefferson Counties.  An additional rural area will be selected in the future to provide some comparison data.

For more information, read Coyote Study underway in Denver Metro Area. Visit Living With Wildlife in Coyote Country for a better understanding of coyotes, their habitat, and how humans can coexist with these adaptable and "cunning" animals.

Being Coyote Wise from Colorado Parks & Wildlife on Vimeo.

---

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking visitors to John Martin, Adobe Creek and Nee Gronda Reservoirs for help in protecting piping plover and least tern, rare shorebirds that nest in Colorado. Parks and wildlife managers will be closing access to some shoreline areas to protect the nests. The closures will run from early April through mid-August.

"These are little birds that are really good at blending into sandy shorelines," explained Mike Smith, Conservation Biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the Lamar area. "We'll have volunteers and staff biologists marking off the nesting areas, but we also ask visitors to be on the lookout for their hard-to-see nest scrapes and eggs."

The least tern is a small, swallow-like bird with black outer wing feathers that is sometimes seen diving head-first into the water after fish. The smallest of the North American terns, it can be identified by its distinctive black crown, white forehead and black-tipped yellow bill. Both Colorado and the federal government have designated the least tern as an endangered species. 
 
The piping plover is a tiny shorebird with pale brown plumage and a black bar across the forehead. Piping plovers typically nest on sandy lakeshore beaches or on river sandbars that are free of vegetation, relying on their cryptic coloration as camouflage from predators. The piping plover is listed as a threatened species by the state of Colorado and under the federal Endangered Species Act.
 
Protecting nesting areas along recreational shorelines is the most effective way to support the recovery of least tern and piping plover populations, biologists say. In Colorado, the least tern and piping plover are found only in the southeast part of the state. They can also be found in other states with adequate shore nesting habitat. 

For more information, read Beach Closures to Protect Rare Birds.