Most birds have some growing up to do before they start to breed. Despite reaching full size within weeks or months of hatching, some species will not raise offspring for years, or even decades. Dr. Liam Taylor explores the strange things that some birds need to do before they reproduce—from developing a territory on a rocky island to finding a dance partner on the rainforest floor. Looking back through millions of years of evolution, we will uncover how behavioral, social, and sexual development continues to create new challenges and opportunities for adolescent birds.

Liam Taylor is an ornithologist and evolutionary biologist, studying how social structures influence the ecology, evolution, and conservation of birds.  He’s a Postdoctoral Scholar in Biology at Bowdoin College.  Liam’s field work at Bowdoin’s Scientific Station on Kent Island (several miles off the mainland in the Bay of Fundy) involves Leach’s Storm-Petrels, American Herring Gulls, Black Guillemots, and Tree Swallows. Previous fieldwork projects have included Golden-winged Manakins (in the cloud forests of Ecuador), White-throated Manakins (in the Brazilian Amazon), and Semipalmated Plovers (just beyond the tree line in Churchill, Manitoba).

This program will be presented at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18th in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. It will be free and open to all ages, and no registration is required for attending the program in person. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom.  To view it via Zoom, you’ll need to register in advance.  To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mbqKqhi_SS23HoJE6Op5cQ#/registration

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We hope you can join us either in person or via Zoom!