SAVE THE DATE!!!
North Park University
3225 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL

Great places to bird and what you'll find there! Our biennial event returns, so mark it in your calendar; you won't want to miss it!

Registration is $40 for Chicago Audubon or National Audubon members and $50 for non-members. Lunch is available for $12 (must be ordered by March 9th). A pdf of the registration form may be downloaded by clicking here.

To register and pay online through our secure site, click here!

Symposium Schedule:

8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Registration and refreshments.

9:15 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Erik Johnson

10:30 a.m. Presentations

11:45 a.m. Lunch

12:30 p.m. Presentations

1:45 p.m. Presentations

3:00 p.m. Closing Speaker: Greg Miller
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Keynote speaker: Dr. Erik Johnson
Dr. Erik Johnson is Audubon’s Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Flyway conservation biologist. Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, for which he examined effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian bird communities. At Audubon, Dr. Johnson works to understand baseline populations and trends of birds of conservation concern in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway, and he is also an integral part of the conservation team working on conservation planning and implementation for this vital region. During the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, Erik worked with another Louisiana State University researcher to organize a citizen science monitoring program in Louisiana to track the extent and frequency of oiling of waterbirds. Audubon expanded a modified version of the survey protocol as the Audubon Coastal Bird Survey; these combined efforts have created the only independent dataset of oiled bird survey data from the Gulf oil spill.

Closing speaker: Greg Miller
"I have been birding since…umm…well I can’t remember because I was too young. I do not remember getting my first pair of binoculars or my first birding trip with my dad. It was my father that got me into birding at an early age. I have been birding for over 50 years and have birded in all 50 states and much of Canada. And I have always been smitten by the birding bug. I love to get outside and go find birds. Every trip out is an adventure!

In 1998 I zigzagged across the continent to try to see as many species of birds in one calendar year as possible. It was an incredible experience passing the 700-species mark—an achievement many birders aspire to in an entire lifetime. But there was competition. Two other birders, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin also doing Big Years the same year as me broke the 700-mark, too. Our competitive quests are documented in the book, The Big Year, by Pulitzer Prize winning author Mark Obmascik."

 

Other presentations will include:

Birds of Costa Rica and Panama - Dr. Agustin Zuniga

Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area, Indiana - Lee Sterrenburg

Butterflies of the American Prairie- Doug Taron

Pacific Pelagic Birding - Todd McGrath

Indiana Dunes State Park, Indiana - Brad Bumgardner

Chicago's Peregrine Falcons - Mary Hennen

Operation Migration - Joan Garland (International Crane Foundation)

The day's schedule is still being finalized, so check back soon!