Ohio Bird Conservation Conference

December 1st, 2007

Deer Creek State Park and Resort

The Ohio Ornithological Society joins with the Ohio Chapter of The Nature
Conservancy to present an exciting conference focused on bird conservation.
We are pleased to partner with TNC, the largest and most effective
conservation organization in the world.

Birders represent a potentially enormous pool of contributors to hands-on
habitat conservation, and many of us are already active on that front.
Still, compared to traditional sources of monies for habitat-acquisition,
our contributions are minor. In order to study identification, migration,
nesting ecology, or just simply enjoy watching birds, we need to protect
habitats and along with it the birds that bring us pleasure.

Many of the birds that migrate through or nest in Ohio have declined
significantly in recent decades. Much of the blame for these losses can be
directly attributed to habitat loss. Over 90% of the wetlands that were once
present in Ohio have been destroyed, as have 99+% of our prairies - once
home to our grassland species. One-third of the state's breeding birds are
neotropical, many of which have experienced alwarming declines. Little is
known of these species in their tropical wintering grounds.

Our slate of speakers will address the complexities of bird conservation.
Dave Ewert will speak to the importance of Lake Erie habitats to migrant
birds, and what needs to be done. Amanda Rodewald will inform us about her
ground-breaking work on the OOS icon bird, Cerulean Warbler, both on
Venezuelan wintering grounds and southern Ohio nesting areas. Paul Baicich
will speak to specific ways in which birders can be active contributors to
conservation. And Chris Bedel will talk about southern Ohio's Edge of
Appalachia preserve and Shawnee State Forest, perhaps the most important
area left in regards to conservation of many Ohio's neotropical birds. All
are exceptional communicators and entertaining speakers.

We are especially pleased to present keynote speaker Scott Weidensaul. Scott
is one of America's foremost natural history authors, and a mesmerizing
speaker. Among his many books is Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search
for the Continent's Natural Soul (2006). This work is probably Scott's most
apropos for this conference. In it, he details his retracing of Roger Tory
Peterson and James Fisher's 1953 journey in which they visited many of the
nation's greatest natural places. Some of Scott's other books include The
Ghost with Trembling Wings (2003), about animals that are presumed extinct,
and Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (2000).
His latest is hot off the press: Of a Feather: A Brief History of American
Birding. Few naturalists have the multi-faceted understanding of science and
conservation that Scott does, or the ability to effectively communicate the
need to protect our natural resources. You won't want to miss him.

For all of the conference details, and registration information, please
visit the OOS website at www.ohiobirds.org <http://www.ohiobirds.org/>

Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/

Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org






______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]