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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241118T190000
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SUMMARY:What is a Raptor Anyway?
DESCRIPTION:By Thomas Bancroft \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBirders love to look for raptors\, and we often talk about these birds. But what arethey? For sure\, hawks\, eagles\, and falcons\, but what about owls? Some say “vertebrate”eaters with talons and a hooked beak\, but does that eliminate kites that eat a lot ofinsects? What about shrikes\, which seem like ferocious hunters but don’t have talons?Lots to think about. \n\n\n\nWe will explore how the definition of raptor has changed since I started birding inthe mid-1960s. To me\, though\, a fascinating topic is how birds have adapted to exploitnew foods. More than 75% of terrestrial life went extinct when the meteor hit at the endof the Cretaceous period. Since then\, life has evolved to fill niches (opportunities) made byclimate and continental drift. As new life forms evolved\, something emerged to eat it\,and pondering why and who is mind-boggling. Recent genetic work shows that falconsare not very closely related to hawks\, eagles\, and kites. Their closest relatives are parrotsand passerines rather than those other “raptors” with talons. Then\, what do we do withvultures?We will explore what a raptor is\, but we will do it with a tongue-in-cheek approach.Thinking about how birds have adapted to opportunities and evolved to exploit thoseniches will fill us with wonder. The evolution of birds we call raptors isincredible; how different evolutionary lines converge to exploit vertebrate prey isstunning. Talons\, hooked beaks\, and a focus on vertebrate prey evolved multiple times\,and then some groups with these traits drifted in a new direction.The science of these birds is rapidly changing\, and what was thought in the 1970swhen I was in graduate school changed dramatically by the early 2000s and istransforming yet again. This talk will synthesize thousands of scientific papers publishedin the last 50 years. When you buy a new bird book\, you might have noticed that thesequence of families and species changed from earlier versions. That change alsohappens in our eBird checklists as the taxonomy is updated. We will concentrate onraptors of Western North America\, but we will peek at some from Australia\, Africa\,Panama\, and Brazil. This evening will leave you with much to ponder and a new way ofconsidering that word\, raptor.Thomas Bancroft has been a lifelong birder and naturalist. He holds a Ph.D. in Biologyand an M.A. in Zoology from the University of South Florida. His research focused onbirds and their conservation. Thomas served in leadership roles for several conservationorganizations\, where he championed the use of scientific information in U.S. publiclands policy and stewardship decisions and was often interviewed for TV\, radio\, andprint media. He is a frequent speaker and writes regularly for the Mountaineers\,Washington Ornithological Society\, and Audubon chapters. His photographs haveappeared in numerous books and publications\, including Audubon\, Birding\, AmericanBirds\, and Mountaineer Magazine\, as well as at the Smithsonian Natural History andthe Burke Museums. Washington State University Press recently published his bookBeyond the Wonder: An Ecologist’s View of Wild Alaska. The Press called his book “abeautiful meditation on nature—one that highlights the importance of untamed placesand the role they play in crafting a better world.” Bancroft received the Mountaineers2020 Service Award for his volunteer work.
URL:https://rainieraudubon.org/event/what-is-a-raptor-anyway/
LOCATION:Federal Way United Methodist Church\, 29645 51st Ave SW\, Auburn\, 98001\, 98001\, United States
CATEGORIES:Monthly Program Night
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