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WELCOME!
Kirtland Bird Club welcomes all people with an interest in birds - regardless of gender identity, sexual preference, ethnicity, skin color, age, or skill level.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2021
The Evolution of Migration
Presented by Dr. Ben Winger
In the Great Lakes region, we are fortunate to witness the extraordinary spectacle of bird migration each spring and fall. How and why did bird migration evolve? The answer to this question may seem obvious (birds fly south for the winter, of course!) but like any interesting scientific question, the answers become more complex the more we learn. When and where did the migratory patterns we see today originate? How can we possibly answer this question given that birds have a poor fossil record? Why do migratory birds fly so far during migration, only to come back to the very same breeding locations each year? Why don’t more birds hibernate instead of migrating? Dr. Winger will discuss research that I have been conducting for the past 15 years on these and other questions related to the evolution of bird migration. He will share what he has learned about the evolution of migration and what questions remain difficult to answer. He will also discuss how learning about the evolution of bird migration informs the conservation of migratory birds in our rapidly changing world.
Presented by Dr. Ben Winger
In the Great Lakes region, we are fortunate to witness the extraordinary spectacle of bird migration each spring and fall. How and why did bird migration evolve? The answer to this question may seem obvious (birds fly south for the winter, of course!) but like any interesting scientific question, the answers become more complex the more we learn. When and where did the migratory patterns we see today originate? How can we possibly answer this question given that birds have a poor fossil record? Why do migratory birds fly so far during migration, only to come back to the very same breeding locations each year? Why don’t more birds hibernate instead of migrating? Dr. Winger will discuss research that I have been conducting for the past 15 years on these and other questions related to the evolution of bird migration. He will share what he has learned about the evolution of migration and what questions remain difficult to answer. He will also discuss how learning about the evolution of bird migration informs the conservation of migratory birds in our rapidly changing world.
Dr. Ben Winger is Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, where he is also the Curator of Birds at the UM Museum of Zoology. Ben is an ornithologist and evolutionary biologist with broad interests in the ecology, behavior and evolution of birds. Ben’s research on the evolution of bird migration has won awards from the American Ornithological Society and the Society of Systematic Biologists and has been featured in popular media such as Radiolab, National Geographic Magazine, and Living Bird.
Ben grew up in Cleveland Heights and graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 2003. He joined the Kirtland Bird Club at age 13 and credits the KBC and its members with fostering his early interest in birds.
Ben also has a lifelong affiliation with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where he is a Research Associate.
Ben received his B.A. from Cornell University in 2007 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2015. He and his students at UM study a wide variety of questions related to bird speciation, migration, and conservation.
More about Ben’s research can be found at www.wingerlab.org.
Ben grew up in Cleveland Heights and graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 2003. He joined the Kirtland Bird Club at age 13 and credits the KBC and its members with fostering his early interest in birds.
Ben also has a lifelong affiliation with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where he is a Research Associate.
Ben received his B.A. from Cornell University in 2007 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2015. He and his students at UM study a wide variety of questions related to bird speciation, migration, and conservation.
More about Ben’s research can be found at www.wingerlab.org.
Click HERE if you would like to join us for this talk but are not already a member of the Kirtland Bird Club.
Click HERE to see future Kirtland Bird Club Programs.
Click HERE for past speaker programs and video links to those programs.
Click HERE for past Bird Identification programs and video links to those programs.
Click HERE to see future Kirtland Bird Club Programs.
Click HERE for past speaker programs and video links to those programs.
Click HERE for past Bird Identification programs and video links to those programs.
Wednesday, March 3rd - video recording coming soon
The Bird-Friendly City
Presented by Dr. Timothy Beatley
How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s?
In The Bird-Friendly City, Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, took us on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shared empowering examples, including: advocates for “catios,” enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley described, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species.
What he shares motivates us to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples on which to draw. Whether birds are migrating and need temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.
Presented by Dr. Timothy Beatley
How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s?
In The Bird-Friendly City, Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, took us on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shared empowering examples, including: advocates for “catios,” enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley described, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species.
What he shares motivates us to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples on which to draw. Whether birds are migrating and need temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.
Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he has taught for the last twenty-five years. Much of Beatley’s work focuses on the subject of sustainable communities, and creative strategies by which cities and towns can fundamentally reduce their ecological footprints, while at the same time becoming more livable and equitable places. Beatley believes that sustainable and resilient cities represent our best hope for addressing today’s environmental challenges. - Ref: https://www.arch.virginia.edu/people/tim-beatley
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Video recordings of some of our programs are available in our archives in the Past Speakers and Past Bird ID Programs sections. |
Upcoming KBC Meetings, Presentations, and Activities - Mark your calendar!
- Wednesday, March 3rd - Dr. Timothy Beatley - The Bird Friendly City
- Wednesday, April 7th - Dr. Ben Winger - The Evolution of Migration
Click here to learn more about these upcoming KBC meetings
Click here to learn about other birding events in our area.
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Reminders from the American Birding Association: |
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Birding While Black - Black Lives Matter.
Black birder Christian Cooper’s cell phone video showing a white woman calling 911 to report he was threatening her and her dog (which was not true) went viral – and it ignited a spate of discussions, articles, videos, and news items about how systemic racism plays out in birding.
Thanks to a black birder member of the KBC who had asked that we show and discuss Cooper’s video at our previous meeting, our club has begun to address how systemic racism impacts the experience of birding for people of color - and how we can respond.
We have put some of the video presentations, articles, and facebook posts that KBC members have viewed during this time in our website archive. Become informed by them and join us in our endeavor.
Black birder Christian Cooper’s cell phone video showing a white woman calling 911 to report he was threatening her and her dog (which was not true) went viral – and it ignited a spate of discussions, articles, videos, and news items about how systemic racism plays out in birding.
Thanks to a black birder member of the KBC who had asked that we show and discuss Cooper’s video at our previous meeting, our club has begun to address how systemic racism impacts the experience of birding for people of color - and how we can respond.
We have put some of the video presentations, articles, and facebook posts that KBC members have viewed during this time in our website archive. Become informed by them and join us in our endeavor.
Making the News:
Click here to watch a TV news story about a Multiple Vulture Rescue in Parma
Click here to see a story about KBC member John Barber's work on native plant restoration near the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes
Click here to see a story about the BROWN BOOBY visiting Nimisila Reservoir near Akron
Click here to see Collinwood's teenage Bird Nerds on WKYC Channel 5
Click here to read about the Bird Nerds' trip to Mohican State Park and watch a video - it's a lot of fun!
Check out these sections on our website:
- About Native Plants
- Where did the name KIRTLAND Bird Club come from?
- Birding While Black Archive
- For New Birders
Click here to watch a TV news story about a Multiple Vulture Rescue in Parma
Click here to see a story about KBC member John Barber's work on native plant restoration near the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes
Click here to see a story about the BROWN BOOBY visiting Nimisila Reservoir near Akron
Click here to see Collinwood's teenage Bird Nerds on WKYC Channel 5
Click here to read about the Bird Nerds' trip to Mohican State Park and watch a video - it's a lot of fun!
Check out these sections on our website:
- About Native Plants
- Where did the name KIRTLAND Bird Club come from?
- Birding While Black Archive
- For New Birders
Kirtland Bird Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month, September through June at 7:30 p.m. Each meeting includes announcements, some club business, and a speaker program. Meetings are free and all are welcome!
Because of COVID19 we are meeting via Zoom instead of at our usual location, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Our field trips are also on hold. We look forward to resuming in person gatherings in the future!
Because of COVID19 we are meeting via Zoom instead of at our usual location, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Our field trips are also on hold. We look forward to resuming in person gatherings in the future!
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JOIN KBC TODAY $20 Single Membership
$30 Couple Membership $10 Student Membership |
DONATE
KBC is a 501(C)3 nonprofit member-based organization. Donations and memberships are fully tax-deductible.
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ABOUT KBC
Kirtland Bird Club was founded in 1940 and named after Dr. Jared Kirtland who started the Cleveland Museum of Natural history.
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