Birding By Feather
Professional Molt Workshops with Peter Pyle
Course Description: We will be offering 2-day and 1-day professional workshops that will emphasize bird molt and how it can be used to identify and age birds. Two-day workshops will take place at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and will include powerpoint lectures on molt, a half-day in the field examining molt in waterbirds, and a half-day in the field banding landbirds and examining birds in the hand. Banding and other field observations will occur among oak woodlands, coastal scrub, and shoreline habitats of San Francisco Bay, while classroom activities will take place on-site. One-day workshops will include a full day of field observation at several hotspots around Bolinas Lagoon, examining both waterbirds and landbirds for molt and age-determination, along with 1-2 hours of classroom activities. We will particularly emphasize molt in shorebirds, raptors, gulls, and other large waterbirds, but will discuss it in all birds that we observe or capture for banding. Dates have been chosen to optimize learning opportunities about molt in these and other bird species. We encourage participants to bring digital cameras to obtain images of birds in the field for later analysis.
These workshops are designed to help advanced birders and ornithologists expand their field skills and data-collection capabilities but can also accommodate intermediate-level and beginning birders who would like to learn about molt strategies and how they can help us to age and identify birds.
The range of topics we will be covering are included in an essay by Peter Pyle in Birding Magazine: Birding By Feather
We will be offering one day and two-day workshops in April and August 2015
Two-day Workshops
Dates: April 4th-5th (the 5th is Easter) and August 15th-16th, 2015
Times: Saturday (Day 1) at 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday (Day 2) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Richardson Bay Audubon Center, north of San Francisco, California (Map)
Includes: light breakfasts and coffee/tea service; full-time instruction from Peter Pyle; lectures on bird molt, bird-banding, age-determination in the hand and field, and other topics; opportunity to help band birds for one morning; does not include lunch, dinner, or lodging.
Enrollment: Limited to 15 participants.
Fee: $495 for the 2-day workshop
Please contact us for registration information
One-day Workshops
Dates: April 12th, 2015
Times: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Meet at the Bolinas School, off Hwy 1 north of San Francisco (Map)
Includes: Full-time field-instruction from Peter Pyle on bird molt, age-determination in the field, and other topics; 1-2 hours of classroom activities.
Enrollment: Limited to 15 participants.
Fee: $125 for the 1-day workshop
Please contact us for registration information
Instructor: Peter Pyle is a professional ornithologist and marine biologist who has been banding birds and studying bird molts and plumages since he was four years old. He is author of Identification Guide to North American Birds, Parts 1 and 2, covering identification, molt, and age/sex determination, and considered the "bible" among North American bird banders. He participated in the Hawaii, Micronesia, and Samoa Forest Bird Surveys, conducted research on birds and white sharks as a biologist at the Farallon Islands, conducted numerous at-sea marine mammal and seabird cruises, and lead over 50 birding and bird-banding tours and workshops throughout the Americas and the Pacific. To date he has authored or co-authored over 150 papers in scientific journals, four books, and an on-line monograph on the Birds of Hawaii. He currently works for the Institute for Bird Populations, studying bird molt and demographics, and advises research and confirms bird identifications for the National Marine Sanctuary's Beach Watch program.
Professional Molt Workshops with Peter Pyle
Course Description: We will be offering 2-day and 1-day professional workshops that will emphasize bird molt and how it can be used to identify and age birds. Two-day workshops will take place at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and will include powerpoint lectures on molt, a half-day in the field examining molt in waterbirds, and a half-day in the field banding landbirds and examining birds in the hand. Banding and other field observations will occur among oak woodlands, coastal scrub, and shoreline habitats of San Francisco Bay, while classroom activities will take place on-site. One-day workshops will include a full day of field observation at several hotspots around Bolinas Lagoon, examining both waterbirds and landbirds for molt and age-determination, along with 1-2 hours of classroom activities. We will particularly emphasize molt in shorebirds, raptors, gulls, and other large waterbirds, but will discuss it in all birds that we observe or capture for banding. Dates have been chosen to optimize learning opportunities about molt in these and other bird species. We encourage participants to bring digital cameras to obtain images of birds in the field for later analysis.
These workshops are designed to help advanced birders and ornithologists expand their field skills and data-collection capabilities but can also accommodate intermediate-level and beginning birders who would like to learn about molt strategies and how they can help us to age and identify birds.
The range of topics we will be covering are included in an essay by Peter Pyle in Birding Magazine: Birding By Feather
We will be offering one day and two-day workshops in April and August 2015
Two-day Workshops
Dates: April 4th-5th (the 5th is Easter) and August 15th-16th, 2015
Times: Saturday (Day 1) at 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday (Day 2) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Richardson Bay Audubon Center, north of San Francisco, California (Map)
Includes: light breakfasts and coffee/tea service; full-time instruction from Peter Pyle; lectures on bird molt, bird-banding, age-determination in the hand and field, and other topics; opportunity to help band birds for one morning; does not include lunch, dinner, or lodging.
Enrollment: Limited to 15 participants.
Fee: $495 for the 2-day workshop
Please contact us for registration information
One-day Workshops
Dates: April 12th, 2015
Times: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Meet at the Bolinas School, off Hwy 1 north of San Francisco (Map)
Includes: Full-time field-instruction from Peter Pyle on bird molt, age-determination in the field, and other topics; 1-2 hours of classroom activities.
Enrollment: Limited to 15 participants.
Fee: $125 for the 1-day workshop
Please contact us for registration information
Instructor: Peter Pyle is a professional ornithologist and marine biologist who has been banding birds and studying bird molts and plumages since he was four years old. He is author of Identification Guide to North American Birds, Parts 1 and 2, covering identification, molt, and age/sex determination, and considered the "bible" among North American bird banders. He participated in the Hawaii, Micronesia, and Samoa Forest Bird Surveys, conducted research on birds and white sharks as a biologist at the Farallon Islands, conducted numerous at-sea marine mammal and seabird cruises, and lead over 50 birding and bird-banding tours and workshops throughout the Americas and the Pacific. To date he has authored or co-authored over 150 papers in scientific journals, four books, and an on-line monograph on the Birds of Hawaii. He currently works for the Institute for Bird Populations, studying bird molt and demographics, and advises research and confirms bird identifications for the National Marine Sanctuary's Beach Watch program.