- Friday, February 16, 2024
- 9:00 AM–10:30 AM
- Bunker Interpretive Center
- $15
Have you heard of Wisdom the Laysan Albatross? At 72+ years old, she is the world’s oldest bird. Wisdom has flown more than 3 million miles, and raised at least 30 young in her life, including her most recent in 2021. Researchers know this because Wisdom was banded (as an adult bird) in 1956. Bird banding is a low-tech but important tool that has been used for more than 100 years to study the migration, survival, and behavior of birds. Uniquely numbered aluminum “anklets” allow identification of individuals, and cooperative international monitoring allows researchers to document mortalities and movements, from local to global.
Join local ornithologists as they band birds at Calvin’s Ecosystem Preserve. You will see how the birds are safely trapped in mist-nets, removed, banded, and released. The in-hand views allow close study of the adaptations of each species. Species we might band include some of our local resident birds here year-round (such as chickadees, woodpeckers, and sparrows) and some of our winter visitors, such as juncos.
This event will begin in the Discovery Room in the Bunker Interpretive Center located at the entrance of the Calvin Ecosystem Preserve. The bird banding take place outside, so please dress for the weather. In case of inclement weather, banding will be canceled, for the safety of the birds and humans. In the event of cancellation, we will notify you by email by 8:00 a.m. on Friday.
Cheryl Rozema Dykstra (BS, Calvin University; PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an independent researcher and consultant in West Chester, Ohio. She has served as the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Raptor Research since 2006 and has spent over two decades leading avian research projects, including an ongoing 25-year study of urban, Red-shouldered Hawks in the Cincinnati area.
She is joined by fellow researchers Jennifer Rozema Jenkins (BS, Calvin University; PhD, Indiana University), biology professor at Grand Valley State University, and Ann Wegman (BS, Miami University), animal curator at Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science.
$15, includes a short introduction and bird banding for approximately 1.5 hours. Refreshments including coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cookies and bars follow the banding indoors. Plant-based bars will be available.
Registration
The registration deadline has passed.
Location details
1750 E Beltline Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
