Event Calendar

On November 25, Dr. Steve Roels will be presenting on what could be argued is truly a “State Bird” of Michigan, the Kirtland’s Warbler. The Kirtland’s Warbler is a Great Lakes endemic species that summers and breeds in young jack pine forests, primarily in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula. It winters in scrub forests in the Bahamas. This species was nearly lost to extinction due to fire suppression in its very limited breeding habitat and nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds.

The removal of the Kirtland’s Warbler from the Federal endangered species list as a result of sustained conservation efforts is a victory for the bird and its champions. Yet threats to the species’ future, including climate change and human development, persist. Examining the deep history of Kirtland’s Warbler and its instinctive behaviors offers hope that the bird, despite its fussy reputation, can adapt to a changing planet. Unprecedented research projects are revealing how the warbler’s movement ecology has enabled its survival across millennia and what we must do to support the warbler as it navigates the new millennium.

Dr. Steve Roels is a conservation biologist with American Bird Conservancy, currently serving as the Kirtland’s Warbler Program Director and Conservation Team Coordinator. He earned his MA from the University of Kansas in 2011, studying population restoration of a rare prairie plant. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University in 2018, studying bird ecology in tropical forest restorations. He has conducted field research in Michigan, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Vietnam, and Panama. His scientific work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Avian Conservation and Ecology; Restoration Ecology; and Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment.

We hope you'll join us on Monday, November 25, 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. 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 have a simultaneous Zoom link to the meeting for those who can’t make it or feel uncomfortable as yet to attend in person. We will also be recording the meeting for later viewing.

The zoom link can be found here.