Don't miss tomorrow evening's Queens County Bird Club live meeting at 7:30 PM EST at Alley Pond Environmental Center, 229-10 Northern Boulevard, Douglaston, NY 11362.
Our speaker, Shai Mitra will present "Finding, Identifying and Appreciating Sparrows". Much like shorebirds and gulls, sparrows are a challenge. Many species are similar and difficult to observe, so an over-reliance on traditional plumage-pattern field marks often leads to frustration. New York is an excellent place to study these small, subtly marked birds because it hosts a wide variety of breeding species and has a coastline that concentrates migrants and vagrants. This talk will focus on understanding sparrows in terms of their biology and behavior, recognizing groups of species and age groups that behave in different ways, and applying the most useful identification tools. Shai Mitra has studied birds in the northeastern United States and around the world for more than 40 years. He received a BA in Biology from Cornell University in 1989 and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago in 1996. From 1996-2000 he operated a bird-banding station at the Fire Island Lighthouse. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the College of Staten Island, with research interests in the areas of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. Shai is Editor of The Kingbird, the quarterly publication of the New York State Ornithological Association; co-compiler of bird records for the New York City and Long Island region; Chair of the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee; and co-compiler of the Southern Nassau County and Napatree, Rhode Island Christmas Bird Counts. Please be prompt since the doorbell is not working and parking may be challenging, since the parking lot is not that big. Marcia AbrahamsVP/Programs CoordinatorQueens County Bird Clubhttp://www.qcbirdclub.org Email: marciaaabrah...@aol.com -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
