This is the second of two sessions that are exploring how to develop expert birder skills. The first session is on Tuesday, March 9th, 7:00-8:30 PM. Donation for the three hour course is $40.
Skills that make an Expert Birder
If you have ever had a bird flash past you, and wished you were like the person next to you who instantly identified it, you can be! It's a skill that you can develop, too. Experts use more than just the detailed field marks found in a bird book's precise illustrations. They focus on clues like size and shape, color patterns, behavior, habitat, and sounds to make those quick decisions.
This course will help you develop those same skills. Focusing on local common birds as examples, we will work through the five characteristics that expert birders use, so these concepts are at the ready for you to use them.
This 3-hour course, presented in two 90 minute evening sessions, will include ways of capturing size and shape, color patterns, behaviors for I.D. clues and expand knowledge about distributions from useful resources. We will incorporate hands-on work using the Merlin smartphone and tablet app (or a bird book, if you don't have a smartphone). The Merlin app is produced by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and is a handy tool to have in the field, especially as you become familiar and proficient with its features. (Merlin can work all over the world, except for south of the Sahara, so it is also a great tool to have if you travel).
In the second session, we will expand on some of the skills gained and practiced from the first session, explore songs, understand tunes and calls, and enhance your capacity to learn them incrementally without feeling overwhelmed .
This course will help you develop skills that will enhance your birding experiences and increase your enjoyment of this rewarding hobby, sport, endeavor.
Bring either a smartphone or tablet with the Merlin App or a favorite bird book.
Fire & Ice & Twin Lakes-Katmai Peninsula
Instructor: Thomas Bancroft
Birds have been a big part of Thomas Bancroft’s life since childhood, both recreationally and professionally. Their identification, ecology, behavior, and systematics were central parts of his undergraduate and graduate schooling and remain a fundamental interest. He earned his Ph.D. in Ornithology, and incorporated working at the bird laboratory at Carnegie Museum, and studying Florida Scrub-Jays, Blue Jays, and Boat-tailed Grackles in graduate school. His fieldwork for National Audubon aided the conservation plan and later as Chief Scientist, Thomas helped National Audubon integrate their work with Birdlife International's work all across the Americas.
Thomas has birded in 48 states, several Canadian provinces, and on six continents, and has identified more than 560 species in the United States and slightly over 2,000 worldwide. His professional career has focused on protecting birds, restoration of habitat and populations, and the integration of science into policy.
Tom is a Scientific Advisor to BirdNote, served 6-years on Washington Audubon's board, volunteers for the Washington Ornithological Society and is the chair of the Naturalist Group at the Mountaineers.