This month features presentations by two recipients of our 2022 Kendeigh Grant!

Join us on Zoom
Meeting ID: 881 8298 7442

A bird in hand: Exploring children's value development through mist-netting experiences, presented by Seunguk Shin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Seunguk will be presenting research on how a hands-on mist-netting experience with birds affects children’s environmental values. This project focused on teaching children aged 6 to 12 about birds and provided them opportunities to handle and release wild-caught songbirds during Nature Day Camps at the Anita Purves Nature Center, Urbana. Seunguk’s proposal was to conduct surveys with the children and expected that children who participated in the mist-netting sessions would show greater increases in their environmental values and connection to nature compared with the control group who were not involved in the sessions.

Grassland bird stopover habitat use and migratory behavior in Illinois, presented by Nicole Suckow, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

“The vast majority of Illinois’ grassland birds are migratory,” Nicole explains, “and this project aims to better our understanding of what constitutes…quality habitat [during migration] for these species throughout the state.” Nicole will investigate grassland birds’ habitat preferences, use automated radio telemetry to estimate how long migrating birds linger on stopover sites, and analyze poop samples to determine what birds are eating while fueling up for their migratory flights. The project spans 24 grassland sites across Illinois, and will focus on the habitat preferences and stopover behavior of 12 species, 11 of which are listed as Species in Greatest Conservation Need.

About Our Monthly Programs:

Guest speakers present on a variety of topics throughout the year. Programs were historically held at the Urbana Free Library auditorium and are currently held online via Zoom (no programs in January, June, July, or August).