Wednesday 26 February 2020

[cobirds] CU Birding Club Lecture Series

Hi COBirders,

My name is Will Anderson, and I started the birding club here at CU. We want to reach out and start contributing to the birding community, so we are going to be holding a lecture series here on campus in the coming months. We will have talks for 6 Fridays, starting March 13th, and skipping march 27th due to spring break. We will be holding these talks in the Humanities Building, in room 135. This map of the CU Campus should help those of you who haven't been on campus find the venue. https://www.colorado.edu/map/ Each talk will start at 7pm and go about an hour, with a little time after for some questions. The schedule for the talks is below. I hope to see a lot of COBirders there to meet the club members and maybe learn something! Feel free to email me at wian6764@colorado.edu with any questions!

March 13th: Scott Taylor will talk about the genomes of taxonomically confusing birds

March 20th: Christian Hagenlocher will talk about his big year

April 3rd: Scott Rashid will talk about the state of Barn Owls in Colorado

April 10th: Nathan Pieplow will talk about bird sounds

April 17th: David Leatherman will be discussing bird food preferences

April 24th: Gary Lefko will talk about the birds of the Pawnee



March 13th: Scott Taylor

Title: Insights from genomes into some taxonomically confusing birds

 

About Scott: Scott Taylor is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Research in his lab is focused on using natural avian hybrid zones and recent avian radiations to understand the genetic bases of traits involved in reproductive isolation, population divergence, and speciation, and the impacts of anthropogenic change, including climate change, on species distributions, interactions, and evolution. He and his lab are fascinated by natural history and the intersections between art and science, and are committed to doing their part to increase diversity and make our community inclusive and supportive.


March 20th: Christian Hagenlocher

Title: A Big Year of Birding on a Budget

About Christian: Christian Hagenlocher's passion for birds began at an early age, when he saw the pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting on a building in downtown Seattle. Since then, he's read every library book and field guide he could get his hands on, and his passion for birds and education has only grown! He is passionate about the education of people of all ages, and went into the teaching profession after completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 2011. As a high school Science teacher and licensed falconer, Christian has integrated birds into curriculum in unique ways, exposing students to the ancient sport of falconry and leading international science-focused trips to Belize, Costa Rica, Israel, Colombia, and Peru. In 2016, Christian became the youngest person to break the 700 mark in an ABA Big Year. His book Falcon Freeway: A Big Year of Birding on a Budget describes his adventures and lessons learned while living on the road, birding in the 21st century. Currently, Christian is a freelance birding guide based in Washington and Colorado, guiding for companies as his schedule allows.

About the talk: 'A Big Year of Birding on a Budget' describes Christian Hagenlocher's approach to Big Year birding. Follow along as he takes you through how he did a record-breaking continental Big Year on a budget, living out of his Subaru Outback, and cutting corners to save money to find birds in the remotest corners of North America. This journey spans from the remote island of Attu, Alaska to Florida's Dry Tortugas, sharing his encounters with birds and interviews with birders, in an effort to Engage, Preserve, Inspire, and Connect people. A teacher by profession, Christian will share this amazing journey through photos, videos, maps, and interviews, teaching you something new about the amazing continent we share with an incredibly diverse cast of feathered friends. 


April 3rd: Scott Rashid

Title: Director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI)

About Scott: Scott is the Director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI)

About the Talk: Scott and members of CARRI have noticed that Barn Owl numbers have been declining in Northern Colorado for several years. Therefore, members of CARRI have been working with Barn Owls in Colorado for several years. Their work consists of building and placing nest boxes for the owls to learn about Barn Owl courtship, nesting, food habits and fledging of the young. 

The CARRI members have had live cameras on several nest boxes since 2014. By watching these cameras, Scott's team has learned a great deal about Barn Owls that could not be obtained any other way. To date members of CARRI have over 30 nest boxes placed throughout Northern Colorado. 


April 10th: Nathan Pieplow

Title: The Amazing Sounds of Birds

About Nathan: Nathan Pieplow is the author of the forthcoming Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds, and the founder of the website Earbirding.com. He is one of the authors of the Colorado Birding Trail, and a former editor of the journal Colorado Birds. He teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

About the Talk: Which bird uses its voice to echolocate inside dark caves?  Which bird sings a duet with itself? Which bird sings over a thousand different songs? In this presentation, Nathan Pieplow, author of the forthcoming Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds, will share some of his most remarkable audio from over a decade of recording birds in the field. You will see the sounds as well as hear them, and learn the stories of the birds that made them, and what some of those birds are actually saying.


April 17th: David Leatherman

Title: What Colorado Birds Eat

About David: David was born in 1949 in Central Ohio, where his love of nature was found. He graduated from Marietta College in 1971 with a degree in biology, and then from Duke in 1974 with a Masters of Forestry. David went on to serve as a Colorado Forest Service entomologist from 1974 until 2005, focusing on mountain pine beetles, public outreach, and surveys. He has given many presentations to many different groups of people, and has contributed many insect specimens to the CSU Gillett Museum. David is also an avid Birder in the state of Colorado, who focuses on birding in Grandview Cemetery. He plans to write a book about his experiences birding there.

About the Talk: A key element of bird life histories is information about their diets.  Many birds are declining. If we bird enthusiasts are to advocate for their welfare, we need to know how they live their lives.  Much of the information contained in current databases pertaining to bird diets is very general. A common description might read, "Insect in summer, seeds in winter."  What insects? What seeds? When? Where? How do the diets vary among habitats? Specific information is needed, particularly for the Mountain West region of North America.  Direct observation and reporting of what birds eat is within our capability due to our increasing numbers and digital photography. This presentation will discuss the food habits of Colorado birds, highlighting some interesting examples, gaps in our knowledge, and the importance to birds of both native and exotic plant and animal species.


April 24th: Gary Lefko

Title: Prairie Birds: Fragile Splendor in the Great Plains 

About Gary: Gary is a 20-year retired Air Force and have worked with U. S. Forest Service since 2002--both as an IT professional. I have both bachelor and master degrees towards my professional career. "My job pays the bills, birding pays my soul."

About the Talk: Grassland flora and fauna depend on a healthy ecosystem to sustain populations. The grassland ecosystem has been identified as a habitat in greatest need for conservation actions. Many of our declining species are associated with the shortgrass prairie. Grassland bird species specifically constitute one of the fastest declining vertebrate population groups in North America. Birds of conservation concern in the shortgrass prairie are: Burrowing Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, Mountain Plover, McCown's Longspur, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Cassin's Sparrow, Short-eared Owl, Prairie Falcon, Wilson's Phalarope, Plains Sharp-tailed Grouse and Long-billed Curlew--20% of these native bird species have been identified as an at-risk species. Across the American Great Plains endemic grasslands and species are in perilous risk. 



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