A Bird by Any Other Name

The nineteenth century was a time period in America which showed tremendous growth in the knowledge about and awareness of North American avifauna.  It was during this time period that men such as Wilson and Audubon, collected and named a great number of species previously unknown to science.  Join Robert Howson as he presents a program on birds named after some of these early ornithologists and collectors those names have been passed on to us today in the classification of the birds we enjoy watching.

Some, such as Wilson's Warbler, may come immediately to mind, but others may not be so readily apparent. Other surnames less familiar to us entered our vocabulary as their names were added to the growing list of New World species. With a little borrowing from Shakespeare, we are reminded that names do change even though the birds themselves remain the same.  Come and see how many of these you can identify from the pictures of species taken across the continent and learn more about those for whom they were named.

Robert Howson, a member of our own Eastside Audubon, has been a livelong educator and birder.  He has taught on all levels from grade school, through high school, and college.  He has recently retired from teaching history but his interest in birds and photographing them still continues.  He and his wife Carolyn have visited and photographed birds in nearly all of the states as well as abroad.  Come enjoy seeing some of your old favorites in a new light as well as some species you may never have seen before. 

Please join us Thursday, November 19, 2009 for Robert's informative presentation A Bird by Any Other Name.  The sit-down part of the evening will start at 7:00, however, you are welcome to come early and enjoy the Activity Fair and  (new every month) bird show set to music.  Robert's presentation is FREE and open to the public - invite a friend.