September 16th – Community Farming & Grassland Birds: A Local Conservation Strategy – with Noah Perlut
Date/Time
09/16/2025 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Bobolink and Savannah Sparrow populations are declining throughout the Northeast. While intensifying grassland management and loss of breeding habitat are important factors in these declines, these birds spend ~9 months of the year away from the breeding grounds. We used miniaturized tracking devices to reveal mysteries of Bobolink and Savannah Sparrow movement ecology, connecting what happens to them on the breeding grounds to the rest of their life-cycle.

Male Bobolink in the hand. Photo by Noah Perlut.

Savannah Sparrow – c. Bryan Calk, Macaulay Library
Noah Perlut leads the Perlut Lab, which explores how human habitat management effects the ecoloty of diverse species and diverse habitats, studying mostly birds but some mammals too. The Lab uses state of the art technology: 1) tiny tracking devices that allow us to follow animals around the world, and 2) genetic techniques that allow us to understand their behavior. Noah Perlut is an ornithologist and professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Programs at the University of New England. He has studied Bobolinks since 2002. FMI: https://sites.une.edu/perlutlab/noah-perlut/
This program will be presented at 7 p.m. on September, June 16th 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_k8htlIvFSO6sgUMuSjcplw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We hope you can join us either in person, or, if not, via Zoom!