Tune In: Bird Song and Behavior

Birders often concentrate most of their attention on what birds look like, but widening one’s sphere of observations to include vocalizations and behaviors can improve identification skills and add a deeper understanding of birds. In this class, we will tune into what birds are saying with an emphasis of learning how to describe and visualize bird songs and calls to become better at “birding by ear.” We will also scrutinize what birds are doing and try to figure out why they are doing it. Our path to improving these birding dimensions will include extended field sessions in various Roaring Fork Valley habitats punctuated by short lectures, discussions, and activities.

About the Instructor: 

For over 20 years Bill Schmoker has been a middle school science teacher in Boulder as well as an instructor for the American Birding Association, National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Boulder County Nature Association. Bill has embarked on two Arctic Ocean research expeditions as a PolarTREC Teacher and explored Greenland as a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. A widely published bird/wildlife photographer, author, and public speaker, Bill finds adventure and seeks new knowledge wherever he finds himself, whether gardening in his back yard, on an icebreaker at the North Pole, and everything in between.