Bird World: Insights for Humans from the Amazing Lives of Birds, a presentation by Noah Strycker

Birds aren’t people, but just how different are they from us? They have the same basic requirements we do: food, shelter, reproduction. And they can do some amazing things! Approaching bird behavior from new and surprising angles, Noah Strycker explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, self-image in magpies, life-long loves of albatrosses, particle physics of starling flocks, and other mysteriesundefinedrevealing why birds do what they do, and how we can relate. With humor and wit, and drawing deep from cutting-edge science and anecdotes from the field, Strycker's presentation will leave you with renewed inspiration about our close connections with birds.

NOAH STRYCKER BIOGRAPHY:
Noah Strycker, 28, is Associate Editor of Birding magazine, and is a well-known writer and “bird man.” His photography and articles have appeared in all major bird magazines as well as in books and other media; he writes regularly for the American Birding Association’s blog. Strycker has studied birds on six continents with field seasons in Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Australia, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, and the Farallon Islands, and his “life list” is approaching 2,500 species. He also works as a naturalist guide on expedition cruises to Antarctica and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, literally spreading the inspiration of birds from pole to pole. His first book, Among Penguins, was published in 2011 (Oregon State University Press). Strycker’s latest project, The Thing with Feathers, a book about the fascinating behaviors of birds, was released in March 2014 (Riverhead Books). Strycker is also a competitive tennis player, has run five marathons, and, in 2011, hiked the entire 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. He is based in Oregon, where his backyard has hosted more than 100 species of birds.