KNC February Meeting Presentation
Our regular monthly meeting presentation on February 15 will be by Shae Turner, Master of Science student at TRU.
Pygmy Nuthatch. Cornell Lab photo.
Understanding the Role of Feather Moult in the Winter Lives of Our Migratory Songbirds
Each year, migratory songbirds travel thousands of kilometres from their breeding grounds in Canada to spend their winter in the tropics. Moult, the process of replacing feathers, is a fundamental part of birds’ annual life cycle, yet we still know little about it. In this talk, I will introduce you to the importance of moult in the winter lives of our migratory songbirds, and the links between winter habitat, moult, and spring migration.
Shae Turner is a Master of Science student at Thompson Rivers University and a Registered Professional Biologist in the province of British Columbia. Her research applies bird banding and tracking technology to answer questions about overwintering ecology, migration, and carry-over effects in migratory songbirds. Having grown up on the west coast, her favourite new neighbour since moving to Kamloops is the Pygmy Nuthatch.
I would loved to have heard this talk.
Molt is a fascinating subject.
Burrowing owls have been tracked with feather replacement information.. Elements from the soil are known from across North America
Elements from the soil are picked up by the bird during molt and re-located into the replacement feathers.
In the late 1990’s, a female on the prairies was tracked by replacement of feathers. First banded in Arizona at a nest, she didn’t like the banding process and left. She flew to southern Sask. within two weeks. There a researcher, working on his PhD from Edmonton took a feather from her and found out she had grown the feather in South Dakota the year before.
Cheers
Dave Low