About the program: “An Introduction to the Waterfowl and Upland Gamebirds of Iowa” is one of the 21 different Bird Identification presentations offered as part of the Building Better Birders workshops. During this program, you will be introduced to 22 species. Kelly McKay will discuss the migratory classification of each species, when and where they are typically found in Iowa, and some of the field marks you can use to identify the species. Additionally, we will hear a recording of each species’ vocalizations.
About our presenter: Kelly McKay began actively birding in 1979 at the age of 14. At this same time, he began assisting two of his early mentors (Elton Fawks and Pete Petersen) with some of their ongoing projects, including several different community science-based projects. Among these was the Christmas Bird Count, in which has participated since 1980. He has continued to be involved in this community science effort for 44 years. You could say he is fanatical about the CBC, since he is one of only two people who have ever successfully completed a full CBC Marathon (doing 23 counts in a season – each year, all counts must take place between December 14 and January 5, thus including 23 days). He has, to date, completed 14 CBC Marathons, and a couple of years ago passed Paul Sykes to become the most prolific CBCer ever (591 total CBCs!).
Professionally, Kelly received his B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Biology from Western Illinois University. He has spent much of the last 20 years working as a privately-contracted wildlife biologist through his own consulting business – BioEco Research and Monitoring Center. However, he has never lost his strong belief in the vitally important role being played by citizen scientists.
Sandhill Crane and Prairie Chicken Bus Tour
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| Song on a Wire - Wikimedia Commons |
You are now able to access the online concert video and curriculum (see link and password below-posted with permission by the copyright holder).
The link provides the full concert video and online curriculum with activities, lessons, extra musical performances, composer interviews and educational games. This resource will remain active through June 2022 (for one year), so utilize it for your programs, personal edification working with your children or grandchildren to teach them about music and birds!
Password: BFPMC (case sensitive)
Find an injured bird or animal? Call Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project 319-277-6511
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