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]