Birds

June 6, 2026

details

This class will explore,

Species and how new species develop
Interaction between populations & habitat fragmentation
What birds tell us about habitat
What habitat tells us about birds – bird identification

We will be outside for the 2nd half of class. We will learn how to use binoculars, and practice identification skills using the Merlin app. Come dressed accordingly, and have the app configured on your phone. Please note, the coverage for some cell phone carriers is less than ideal at this location.

information

Instructor: Karen Stine, PhD

Location: Stan Adams Training Facility, 2832 Big Woods Rd, Chapel Hill

Time: 9:00am-noon

Slides: Will be posted

Class Question: Will be posted after class

Before Class

Lights Out for migrating birds – how to bring it home.
A podcast – how one building killed tens of thousands of birds
BirdCast provides real-time predictions of bird migrations: when they migrate, where they migrate, and how far they will be flying. Plug in your locations, see who’s flying overhead. How cool is that!
Download the Bird ID app from Audubon or the Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Bird Lab
Using citizen science data, visualize bird abundance & migration status and trends on the eBird website.
Learn about aeroecology from the There’s More to That podcast, entitled Birds, Bats and Bugs:The Teaming World Above our Heads

additional reading

Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife, Rodney Stotts (2022)

Birds of the Carolinas, Eloise Potter, Parnell, Teulings, and Davis (2006)

Bird Families of North America, Pete Dunne & Kevin Karlson (2021). While this could be a field guide, I find it most helpful after I’ve been out. Good way to learn about who’s related to the birds I’ve seen.

Conversation with Birds, Priyanka Kumar (2022)

Hawks in Flight, Pete Dunne, David Sibley, Clay Sutton (2012)

Hope is the Thing with Feathers, Christopher Cokinos (2000)

Identify Yourself: The 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges, Bill Thomson (2005)

Lives of North American Birds, Kenn Kaufman (1996)

Mind of the Raven, Bernard Heinrich (2009)

Peterson Field Guides – Eastern Birds, Roger Tory Peterson (1980)

North on the Wing: Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring, Bruce M. Beehler (2018)

Starlings: The Curious Odyssey of a Most Hated Bird, Mike Stark (2025). Fascinating story of a man’s misguided desire devastates ecosystems.

The Genius of Birds, Jennifer Ackerman (2016)

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, J. Drew Lanham (2017)

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, David Allen Sibley (2003)