In the spring and fall, we often hear and observe flocks of birds flying overhead - a clear sign that bird migration is underway. What we may not witness are the millions of birds traveling through the night skies while we are sleeping. These night travelers include almost 80% of migrating birds, according to the National Audubon Society. They use the moon and the stars to find their way across thousands of miles. Artificial light at night can disrupt migration and often disorient birds from their routes and cause collisions with buildings, resulting in millions of bird fatalities each year.

Across the country, bird lovers, conservationists, and amateur astronomers are working together to help birds safely migrate between their seasonal homes. We are encouraging our communities to engage in this work as well.

Please join us to learn more about bird migration, night skies, and the role of a modern ornithology collection in current research and conservation efforts from Dr. Gary Voelker, Professor and Curator of Birds at the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections, Texas A&M University. Ms. Heather Prestridge will also join us to speak to the beginnings and current status of Lights Out Texas, a conservation effort to darken skies during bird migration. You’ll also have the rare opportunity to test your bird identification skills utilizing specimens from the collections.

Tickets for this event include:

• a fun and interesting seminar presented by a world renowned researchers,
• opportunity to explore specimens from BRTC,
• light snack options, and
• one Desert Door cocktail.

OUR EXPERTS

Dr. Gary Voelker Dr. Gary Voelker is an ornithologist/evolutionary biologist, and has been at Texas A&M University since 2008. As Curator of Birds at the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections, Dr. Voelker and his students work to expand collections through biodiversity surveys/expeditions both within Texas and internationally. The author/co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed papers, his long-term research focus has been on the systematics and biogeography of songbird lineages, mostly those found in Africa and Eurasia. Recent collaborations have focused on avian malaria research in Texas, Africa and Italy, and even more recently, he has developed a collaboration with colleagues at USGS to work on cotton pesticide effects on birds in Texas.

Heather Prestridge is Natural History Collections Curator at the Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections. She manages all aspects of natural history collection and provides expert assistance to researchers utilizing the collections and data from within. Heather also plans and facilitates science teacher training in nationally recognized environmental education curricula.

ABOUT BRTC

The Texas A&M University Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections is curated by staff and faculty of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology. Within these collections, the Collection of Birds contains over 28,000 specimens from 59 countries. Holdings include representatives of 1,706 species, 798 genera, and 165 families. These collections meet the needs of researchers and are used to understand more about birds and our shared environment. This collection provides a broad benefit to the management and conservation of birds worldwide. For more information about this collection, research, and programs, please visit https://brtc.tamu.edu/collections/ornithology/.

LIGHTS OUT TEXAS

Lights Out Texas is a campaign of education, awareness, and action that focuses on turning out lights at night during the spring and fall migrations to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly over Texas annually. We encourage everyone to turn off non-essential lights at night from 11 pm - 6 am during the fall migration period, and where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out during the critical peak migration periods.

Audubon Texas leads Lights Out Texas efforts across the state in collaboration with Cornell University, our state chapters. Texas A&M University Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provide leadership for volunteer research efforts.