Bird Banding Trip

While AppSciComm is covering most of the cost (thanks to a generous NASW Peggy Girshman Idea Grant), we're asking participants to chip in $15/adult and $5/child. Space is limited. Rain date is Sunday, Oct. 17, same time and place.

Bird banding is the process of capturing wild birds with special nets to record valuable data that allows scientists to better understand how bird populations are changing. This data can also provide critical insight into the health of an ecosystem where birds are indicator species, informing conservation efforts. Birds are identified with a metal leg band should they ever be re-captured or recovered. All birds are released unharmed after the banding process. Banding operations are federally regulated by the Bird Banding Laboratory and run by highly-trained individuals. 

Our bird banding excusion will be led by Nick Liadis, an avian conservation biologist and the founder of Bird Lab, an organization dedicated to  understanding the various struggles migratory birds face when they encounter cities and other forms of human settlement on their journeys. His background in architecture and design also plays in as he promotes the creation of healthy ecosystems for people and for birds. 

With his unique background, Liadis has expanded his research with appointments at the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in California, and at the Powdermill Avian Research Center and Fallingwater Institute in Pennsylvania. These experiences have given him tremendous insight into what birds face when they encounter North American cities.

As a research fellow at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which hosts the Bird Safe Pittsburgh program, and with endorsements to teach about bird-safe environments from the American Bird Conservancy and the American Institute of Architects, Liadis unites architects, planners, policy makers, and scientists around the protection of birds, from cities to forests.