Prairie Warbler - Photo by John Howard.

Birds by Song

Breeding Birds of the Appalachian Heartland
Bird Identification and Ecology

June 4-8, 2012 ~ Southern Ohio

Dear bird lovers, this course is full for 2012. However, we will be taking a waiting list in case of cancellations. We hope to offer this popular course next year, so if you are interested, be sure to get on our mailing list! To be placed on the waiting list or express interest for next year, please email us at registration@appalachianforestschool.org.

"The last of the light of the sun that had died in the west, still lived for
one song more in a thrush's breast."     
~Robert Frost


What will you learn from this course?

• Become familiar with the most common songs, and in many cases the call notes, of up to 85 species of nesting birds in the Appalachian heartland.
• Learn and practice techniques of identifying birds in the field, based on markings, behavior, & flight patterns.
• Learn bird assemblages by habitat - exploring the most common habitats in the mid-latitude heartland of eastern North America.
• Gain a holistic view of avian life challenges and ecosystem requirements through the study of the miracle of migration.
• Learn the taxonomic groupings to which bird species belong, evidencing evolutionary lineages and relationships to other species here and abroad.
• Learn the bird food sources and how they change from season to season, and from species to species.
• Exposure to the significance of birds throughout the world: their magnificent diversity, evolution and world distribution.
• Fascinating educational stories about bird natural history and ecology that can be remembered and passed on.
• Learn conservation challenges facing bird species in eastern North America.

Ruby-throated hummingbird - Photo by John Howard.

Introduction

Imagine having the capacity to enter any forest, old field, or woodlot in Eastern United States in June, and with your eyes closed, recognize nearly every bird song that you hear.

Here is an in-depth course that teaches you to permanently learn and remember the songs, calls and field identification skills of the breeding birds in in America’s Eastern forest heartland, as well bird natural history and ecology. Gaining such skills requires lots of time in the field, patient repetition, good learning aides, and positive reinforcement - attributes that are not often found in casual bird walks with birders, but will be bountifully present in this course. Whether you are a beginning or intermediate birder, you will leave this course with substantial higher levels of mastery, learning 25-45 new songs to your repertoire. We will spend every day outdoors with a small group of registrants who will be personally coached and guided by an expert naturalist who has dedicated his entire life to learning and teaching avian natural history. People vary widely in their ability to learn through sound. This course accommodates the entire range of native abilities, and everyone will leave the course feeling proud of their newly won accomplishments.

Holistic Learning

The focus of the course is on learning itself; the retention of complex field skills, and the ability to recognize birds in ordinary field situations, such as when sometimes only a call note is heard, or just a glimpse of a feathered head before it disappears in the fencerow, requiring the observation of subtleties of behavior, field markings, song and call notes, and habitat associations. For this reason we have chosen not only an expert birder to lead this course, but an expert teacher, Bruce Lombardo. In his rich lifetime of serving as an international teacher and nature guide, he has also established himself as a devoted teacher, mentor and coach for his many students. Bruce will not only teach you the birds, but if you are in a place to share your skills with a larger circle of influence, you will leave this course with a  cornucopia of interpretive stories, mnemonic devices, and other teaching aids that he will employing on your behalf.

Our learning approach will be to study birds by habitat association (prairies, succession habitats, wetlands, river corridors, second-growth forests, and mature forests). Birds do not exist in a vacuum, but in the cradle of a living ecosystem, and we intend to take in their whole environment as it presents itself to us. We have chosen as the location of this course the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, a 2000-acre preserve, the headquarters of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. Located in southern Ohio, the birds of its forests and Appalachian foothills are representative of what would commonly be found in the mid-latitude region of the continent's eastern temperate forest.

Common Yellowthroat - Photo by John Howard.

In this course, we will spend lots of time listening. After three days of active listening, your entire body will begin to feel like an ear that is open to the world 360 degrees around you, and you will be amazed at how discerning you become. What was perhaps once background collective music, will break up into individualized species. Although as humans we lack the vocal chords to produce most avian songs, once you master recognizing them, you will find yourself singing their songs silently alongside their audible expressions. Through them you can vicariously deepen your appreciation of the woodlands and meadows as the landscape seems to burst into song after the dormancy of winter. And, although the birds may be so high in the leafed canopy that you can not see them, after hearing their music, your mind will  rapidly fill in the details of feathers, colors, and form. Learning the birds by sight and song is basic to becoming a knowledgeable citizen, teacher, and advocate of the Eastern Forest and its associated ecosystems, besides being a great deal of fun and a lifelong source of joy.

Who is this course designed for?

This course is ideal for teachers, nature enthusiasts, naturalists, outdoor educators, biologists, home school parents, and students of biodiversity who are somewhere in the broad range of intermediate levels. As a minimum requirement, registrants should already know the common year-around residents, such as cardinal, blue jay, crow, chickadee, and tufted titmouse; have used binoculars before, and have some familiarity with using a field identification book. On the high end of the threshold for course suitability, registrants who are already very knowledgeable on recognizing birds by sight, but not many by sound or song, will profit greatly from this course.

How many birds will you learn?

How many species you will have learned and remember after leaving this course, depends on a number of factors: the background you bring with you in outdoor skills,  how many birds you already know, your ability to observe and retain details with your eyes, and your ability to hear and remember audible sounds. These abilities  will naturally vary dramatically from person to person, and should always be viewed without apology. Someone who is new to mastering outdoor skills may leave with 25 new birds in their repertoire. A person who comes to the course already knowing fifty birds, may leave with 85 species in his or her capacity by both sight and sound. Instructor Bruce Lombardo will work with you wherever you are to improve your skills, and there is no reason to have shame or pride on being on either end of the scale. The goal is not how much you know coming in, but how much you have transformed your skills by course end.

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