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(Online & In-Person)

BIRDING: INTERMEDIATE
(Online & In-Person)

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Birding
Duration: 7 wks
Date range: April 13 to May 25
Date(s) of the week: Wednesday
Hour: 7–9 p.m.
Quarter: Spring 2022
Prerequisite: Beginning Birding
Textbook: Textbook: Any North America or Western North America bird field guide (Sibley’s Guide is a great one).
Address: LIVE ONLINE via ZOOM + In-Person Weekend Fieldtrips
Price: $168

Class will be held LIVE ONLINE via ZOOM.
After you register, you will receive a link to login to the class.
Please call the Adult School office at (650) 329-3752 if you have any questions.

The primary goal of this course is to continue developing birding skills through bird identification by sight and sound.

We will meet online via Zoom for 2 hours weekly, focusing on bird observation and identification skills, while considering the ecological context.

Typical sessions will involve checking in with each other, comparing similar species via brief presentations, and practicing birding skills with ID challenges. There will be 3 in-person field trips to local Bay Area birding hotspots, usually on Saturday mornings, following current county health guidelines. During April and May, birds are vocal on breeding territories, so the spring quarter has natural emphases on bird song identification, breeding biology and migration.

Optional Textbook: Any North America or Western North America bird field guide (Sibley’s Guide is a great one).

SCHEDULE

Week 1: April 13 “Follow the Pipers”: spring shorebird IDs, including plovers, dowitchers, godwits, curlews and the little “peeps”.
Week 2: April 20 “Tweets & Trills”: Why birds sing, types of songbirds, birding by ear, ID challenges: woodpeckers and warblers.
Week 3: April 27 “Migratory Mysteries”: Warbler and sparrow IDs, tracking bird migration, banding studies and eBird data.
Week 4: March 4 “My Nest is Best”: Courtship, nest building, parental care, phalaropes, ID challenge: hummingbirds and vireos.
Week 5: March 11 “Raptors & Nest Predators”: ID the most common breeding raptors and nest predators of California.
Week 6: March 18 “Grace & Beauty”: Aerial insectivores, alternate vs basic plumage, ID challenges: swifts, swallows, and orioles.
Week 7: March 25 “Spring Vagrants”: How migrating birds get off course, identifying Eastern warblers, flycatchers, vireos, etc.