Hello All:
Please join us at 7:30 on *March 3rd* for the next Monday Night Seminar. As
always, these seminars are free and open to the public. The doors open at
7:00.
This coming Monday, we will once again be streaming the seminar live! Be
sure to bookmark
http://dl.allaboutbirds.org/cornelllab-monday-night-seminars for quick
access on Monday evening. One way or another, we hope you will join us!
-Marc
*Rachel Dickinson, author Have Notebook and Camera Will Travel: Confessions
of a Travel Writer Who Birds to Travel and Travels to Bird.*
*Host: Miyoko Chu*
Freelance author and travel writer Rachel Dickinson has spent the past
couple of decades roaming the globe in search of stories. Armed with a
notebook and a little camera, she's written about far-flung places such as
Siberia and the Falklands, and places closer to home including the Erie
Canal and her hometown of Freeville. Her work has been published in a
number of publications including *Audubon, The Atlantic*, and
smithsonian.com. She is a regular contributor to *The Huffington Post*
and *Men's
Journal* online.
*Dickinson's book, *Falconer on the Edge: a man, his bird, and the
vanishing landscape of the American West (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) *will
be available for signing.*
*UPCOMING MONDAY NIGHT SEMINARS*
*March 10 Cayuga Bird Club Meeting Kevin McGowan, Cornell Lab of
Ornithology Waterfowl ID: The Most Important Things *Do you deem distant
ducks disturbingly difficult? Do you find figuring out female fowl
frustrating and fraught with failure? This evening is engineered to
enlighten, engage, and entertain, while welcoming everyone into the
wonderful world of waterfowl. It will introduce the top two tips for
telling tricky ID troubles apart: shape and color pattern. Kevin McGowan
works in the Education section of the Cornell Lab, and has been creating
distance learning courses about bird behavior and identification. He will
share highlights from his Waterfowl ID webinar series.
*March 17 Tom Stephenson, author; Scott Whittle, photographer The Warbler
Guide: The Overlooked ID Points that Make Identifying Warblers Easy Host:
Mike Webster*
Birder and author Tom Stephenson and photographer Scott Whittle will
describe important but often overlooked ID clues for colorful and sometimes
elusive warblers: overall contrast, subtle facial features, color
impressions, feather edging, rump contrast, as well as foraging style,
location, and behavior. Even viewing a warbler from below can reveal
identity clues for many species. Stephenson and Whittle will also address
some of the most challenging species to identify, compare them to similar
species, and illustrate how even partial views can be used to identify
warbler species.
*Stephenson's and Whittle's book, The Warbler Guide, published by Princeton
University Press, will be available for purchase and signing. *
*March 24 Sara Kaiser, Cornell Lab Unraveling the Mysteries of Songbird
Mating Systems*
*Host: TBA *Sara Kaiser is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. She'll
discuss how habitat quality affects where and how often the seemingly
monogamous Black-throated Blue Warbler mates outside its pair bond. Most
male Black-throated Blue Warblers are socially monogamous, meaning they
are mated to a single female. However, all is not as it appears: up to 50%
of Black-throated Blue Warbler nests have young sired by a male that is not
the territory holder. Sara has been studying the mating system of these
warblers in the hardwood forests of New Hampshire.
*March 31 Margaret Barker, Elissa Wolfson, Chris Willett Building, Placing,
and Maintaining Great Homes for Great Birds Host: Robyn Bailey *Join
authors Margaret Barker and Elissa Wolfson, along with woodworker Chris
Willett as they share what they learned--and built--while writing and
researching the Audubon Birdhouse Book (Voyageur Press, 2013). Find out how
to build for birds that take up residence within birdhouses--including Wood
Ducks, kestrels, and of course, bluebirds--as well as those such as Great
Blue Herons, Ospreys, and loons that nest outside the box. We'll explore
the reasons behind birdhouse building, especially where natural habitat is
scarce, the latest design innovations, and how people everywhere are
helping birds by providing them with safe homes.
*April 7 Taza Schaming, PhD candidate; Cornell Lab of Ornithology Clark's
Nutcrackers: Pivotal Players in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Host: TBA*
Whitebark pine and Clark's Nutcrackers have a fascinating relationship. The
trees provide the birds with rich, fatty seeds that have more calories per
pound than chocolate. In return, the nutcrackers plant the seeds that
grow whitebark pines as well as 10 other conifer species--trees needed to
provide food for wildlife and to helping retain snow (and thus drinking
water) on the upper slopes of the Rockies. Schaming will also provide
insights
