by John Marzluff

As a wildlife scientist and birder, I think about our relationship with, and effects on, nature. As I searched for meadowlarks and other open country birds among farms and ranches, I learned how these species flee the plow and how many farmers adjust their actions to lessen this exodus. I birded and talked with farmers on their lands from Nebraska to California to Costa Rica. Here I bring news to you from these farms that show how some birds are extirpated while others evolve to live among the crops we need for our own sustenance. I focus on the actions of many farmers that coexist with nature because “it is the right thing to do.” You’ll learn about wine producers that welcome barn owls to their vineyards to help control rodents, organic producers that fallow some land each year to the benefit of yellowthroats, ranchers that employ intensive, rotational grazing to coexist with predators and trout, and a rancher that traded cows for tourists. One of humanity’s grand challenges is to conserve nature while providing for a growing and increasing affluent population. The lessons I’ve learned from agrarians and the scientific literature suggests strategies that we can each employ to help meet this challenge.

John Marzluff is James W. Ridgeway Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington. His graduate (Northern Arizona University) and initial post-doctoral (University of Vermont) research focused on the social behavior and ecology of jays and ravens. He continues this theme investigating the intriguing behavior of crows, ravens, and jays. His current research focuses on the interactions of ravens and wolves in Yellowstone. He teaches Ornithology, Governance and Conservation of Rare Species, Field Research in Yellowstone, and Natural and Cultural History of Costa Rica.

Dr. Marzluff has mentored over 40 graduate students and authored over 170 scientific papers on various aspects of bird behavior and wildlife management. He is a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Team for the critically endangered Mariana Crow, a former member of the Washington Biodiversity Council, a Fellow of the American Ornithologist’s Union, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a National Geographic Explorer.

Professor Marzluff has written six books and edited several others. His Welcome to Subirdia (2014 Yale) discovers that moderately settled lands host a splendid array of biological diversity and suggests ways in which people can steward these riches to benefit birds and themselves.

His most recent In Search of Meadowlarks (2020 Yale) connects our agriculture and diets to the conservation of birds and other wildlife. Copies will be available at the meeting for $20,

This will be a hybird meeting. Come in person or join us with Zoom.

Dan Streiffert is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: In Search of Meadowlarks: Birds, Farms, and Food in Harmony with the Land
Time: Apr 17, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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