Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch

Lisa Manne, Assistant Professor of Biology at the College of Staten Island, will present Migration Mysteries: Variation in Migration Distances for North American Short-distance Migrants Under Climate Change   Under climate change, bird ranges are tending to shift toward the poles.  There are good reasons to believe that winter ranges might be shifting at the same rate of speed as are breeding ranges.  Her lab is testing this assertion with long-term data for short-distance North American migrants.  They found a…

Join pelagic junkies Doug Gochfeld and Sean Sime as they discuss how Brooklyn became the "go deep or go home" pelagic mecca and how analyzing seabird data Atlantic-wide has paid immediate dividends in NY waters. Since the 1970’s New York based pelagics have evolved from “Let’s go offshore” trips to nowhere to targeted strikes overlaying sea surface temperature, wind, and chlorophyll charts in concert with our ever increasing knowledge of seasonal bird movements. With each new trip unknowns are becoming…

Join us for the ever-popular Members' Photo Night and enjoy images of birds and nature presented by the many talented photographers in the club.  Members Chang Peng, Heidi Cleven, August Davidson Onsgard, Don Riepe, Jennifer Kepler, and Rusty Harold will be presenting.

Presented by Jerry Huntley, Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of History. Using genetic information gathered from natural history collections and field expeditions to West Africa, Jerry Huntley's team examined 70 species of African forest bird.  From this data, they hope to have a better understanding of how potential barriers to movement within the forest (such as rivers and savannahs) and historical climate change have shaped the distribution of birds that we see today, especially from a genetics standpoint.

Presented by Angelo Soto-Centeno, professor of Evolutionary Biology at Rutgers University – Newark and most recently a postdoctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History. Angelo was born in Puerto Rico, and since early childhood he experienced island biodiversity first hand. His fascination with animals that can fly led him on a path to study bats, a group of one the most misunderstood mammals worldwide. Today, he travels the Caribbean islands searching and documenting living and fossil species of…

Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation (WINORR) is a non-profit, volunteer organization serving New York City, Nassau, and Western Suffolk Counties. They provide professional care for sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife. WINORR rescues and cares for wild animals received through the Department of Environmental Conservation, local police, animal hospitals, humane societies, animal control, as well as the general public. The state and federal governments license us to provide this service. In addition to rehabilitation, WINORR also provides information and…

The New York Bight encompasses more than 16,000 square miles of coastal and ocean waters from Montauk, New York, to Cape May, New Jersey. It is an ecological treasure trove, providing critical migration routes for globally threatened species, including sea turtles, whales, and sharks, as well as nursery grounds and critical habitat for hundreds of other marine species. Note: Due to a family matter, Jake LaBelle will sub in for the original presenter, Noah Chesnin. Jake is a Research Coordinator,…

“Ranger Eric” as students know him, is a biologist, teacher, photographer, outdoorsman, and overall nature-lover. He started leading nature hikes in 1987 as a Park Ranger in Colorado until he served two years in the US Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Officer. Since then, he has been running nature centers in Colorado, Alabama and New York. In 2005 he started, “Your Connection to Nature” (YC2N), dedicated to meaningful environmental education programs and eco-tourism, these programs connect classrooms to field…

Grace has worked as a field botanist and educator in New York City and the Northeast for over thirty years. Her workshop will focus on successful strategies that have been utilized to conserve and promote our native flora. A power point presentation will be given on creative projects initiated by both individuals and small groups in New York City and the Northeast. Can you help initiate a native plant arboretum or create a new plant corridor? We will consider positive…

Note: This meeting will be held at the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch Six hundred miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador sit a chain of volcanic islands that are home to a range of fascinating and unique animals. Because of its isolation, the Galapagos has served as a workshop in evolution. The slight variation of some of the birds from island to island triggered the imagination of Charles Darwin, which led him to develop his world-changing theory of evolution.…

Birds make beautiful pictures. And photos can be useful in making tough IDs and also serve as memories of great experiences. But birds can be very difficult to photograph well. This workshop covers everything you need to know to make great, sharp bird photos. We will cover camera basics, how to set up for different conditions, advanced tips and tricks for the field; and also the importance of post-processing and how to make a good photo look professional. Tom Stephenson's articles and photographs are in museums and…

NOTE, THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 RELATED SUSPENSION OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS AT BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY.  To be rescheduled at a later date. Sean Sime, a professional photographer, eBird regional reviewer and long time member of the Brooklyn birding community will lead an interactive discussion on eBird's functionality beyond "just checklists" and how we as birders barely scratch the surface of its' utility. In this meeting Sean will be giving us a brief overview of eBird, what his contribution…

Location: Info Commons of Main Branch of Brooklyn Public Library** When you type the name of a bird into a search engine, one of the first links that inevitably pops up is Wikipedia. If you search for images of that bird, one of the first you'll see is likewise from Wikipedia. Even images used elsewhere on the web may have originated on Wikipedia's sister site, Wikimedia Commons, which is the world's largest free media repository. Wikipedia is where a large…

Location: Info Commons of Main Branch of Brooklyn Public Library** Fundamental to renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's vision in his park designs was the role of time. He had the ability to see a plot of land for what it was in the raw undeveloped state, as well as to visualize how his designs would translate several decades into the future after the trees and shrubs he planted had rooted and spread and integrated with the space. This concept,…

Location: Info Commons of Main Branch of Brooklyn Public Library** Join your local eBird reviewers for an interactive presentation to learn more about the functionality of eBird beyond “just checklists” and how we as birders have barely scratched the surface of its utility. In this meeting a few of your regional reviewers will give us a brief overview of eBird, what data intake looks like from the review side, and most importantly, the many ways eBird can better our birding…