Event Calendar

Michigan is home to many raptor species. Some, like Short-eared Owls, Snowy Owls, or Golden Eagles, grace us with their presence only occasionally and attract forays of excited birders to see them while they are visiting. Other species are abundant year-round residents that we see frequently and that don’t garner the excitement of the more “exotic” species. They may seem rather, hmmm...boring: “Oh, just another Red-tailed Hawk.” Well, that’s only because you haven’t yet heard Nick Alioto’s presentation! Nick’s program on this well-known but little-studied species has fascinating active graphics of their travels around the area and highlights new information about this species. You may no longer think of them as boring!

Nick will provide background on the Red-tailed Hawk project and shine light on all the various aspects of research this group is focused on. He will then discuss how he became interested and involved in studying Red-tailed Hawks and why the Straits of Mackinac serve as an ideal location to study this species. Nick will also talk about what we have learned from tracking these birds over the last four years. Specifically, he will focus on the migratory ecology of the Great Lakes population with emphasis on migratory routes, breeding and wintering locations, and dark morph individuals.

Nick Alioto is originally from Ontario, Canada. He obtained his BS in 2016 from Bishops’ University in Quebec, Canada. Currently he is a PhD student at Michigan State University where he studies the migration of Red-tailed Hawks in Michigan. This project is in collaboration with the Red-tailed Hawk project and the Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch. Nick has been working on migration related projects since 2016 and specifically with Red-tailed Hawks since 2019.

We hope you'll join us on Monday, February 24, at People's Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. Come at 7:00 PM for some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. It’s helpful if you bring your own coffee cup. The one-hour program will start at 7:30. Masks are recommended but not required in the church. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance.

We will have a simultaneous Zoom link to the meeting for those who can’t make it or feel uncomfortable as yet to attend in person. This link will be available shortly before the meeting in the March newsletter that is emailed to you and in this event description below. We will also be recording the meeting for later viewing.

Join Zoom Meeting - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82164628462.