Dale Stahlecker

Dale Stahlecker became hooked on birds of prey as a work-study student at Colorado State University (B.S. 1973, M.S. 1975), opening gates for a graduate student counting prairie raptors. His first full-time job was as a USFS District Biologist in Arkansas.  He has lived in New Mexico since 1980, co-founding EEI in 1983.  To date, Dale has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers that cover natural history and conservation of mammal and bird species ranging from centimeters-long shrews to meter-tall Whooping Cranes. Dale authored seven chapters on birds of prey in the comprehensive "Raptors of New Mexico", published in 2010.

In 1987 Dale and John Rawinski were the first to document Boreal Owls in New Mexico, then 25 years later Dale organized a team using playback to confirm their continued presence in the state’s northern mountains. Dale and company co-founder Patricia Kennedy developed and tested the breeding survey protocol for Northern Goshawks in 1990 that is still used throughout North America. Over his career he spent thousands of hours finding, then ground-checking breeding raptors, particularly Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons. During 2010-2017, Dale and USFWS colleagues placed satellite transmitters on 175 Golden Eagles in 61 counties of nine western states to monitor the eagles’ ranging behavior, survival, and causes of mortality.  Dale and his partner Beverly live near Santa Fe, NM, with American Kestrels, Western Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls nesting within 200’ of their home in artificial nests he maintains. Dale has canoed whitewater for four decades and birded internationally for nearly five.

Personal areas of interest and expertise

• Extensive budgeting, planning, bidding, and project management experience

• State and Federal permits always field ready on day one

• Has conducted hundreds of standardized surveys for federally-listed species

• Has censused birds by BBS, spot-mapping, and point count methodologies

• Years of experience coordinating interagency and volunteer field teams

• Expertise in conservation biology of rare or sensitive species, e.g., golden eagle, bald eagle, osprey, peregrine falcon, boreal owl, and willow flycatcher

Resume

Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=OQUsIZYAAAAJ