Member Meetings

Interested in learning more about Seattle Audubon?

Our Member Meetings are open to the general public and we invite you to become a supporter and advocate of our mission to cultivate and lead a community that values and protects birds and the natural environment.

“Seattle Audubon is important to me because it offers many ways to learn, volunteer, make friends and take action to help preserve natural habitat. There are always interesting classes to sign up for, field trips heading out to new destinations, enthusiastic volunteers ready to share their knowledge of birds and habitat, and a dedicated staff as well as more volunteers working hard to keep this organization going.”

- Barry Levine, Seattle Audubon Master Birder

Next Meeting:
March 15th, 2012: Owls of the North by Paul Bannick

Paul Bannick, award-winning photographer specializing in birds in their habitats, will take you on a visual and auditory celebration of the owls of the North. Snowy Owls are irrupting this year across North America—Paul explores the life histories of these birds and other owls of the North including Great Gray Owls, Boreal Owls and Northern Hawk Owls. Don’t be surprised to see Paul weave in some other birds including woodpeckers into this lively presentation!

Coupling his love of the outdoors with his skill as a photographer, Paul Bannick creates images that foster the intimacy between viewer and subject, inspiring education and conservation. In 2011, Paul took first place among professionals in the Birds and Their Habitat category in Audubon Magazine’s prestigious annual photography contest. Paul's first book, The Owl and the Woodpecker, published by The Mountaineers Books in October of 2008, continues to be one of the best-selling bird books in North America, and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award for general non-fiction.

Please join us at REI Downtown for this special event on Thursday, March 15th from 7 – 8pm. We encourage attendees to arrive early to save a seat!

Snowy Owl ©Paul Bannick

Click here to view a video clip of Paul on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams discussing the recent Snowy Owl irruption!

April 19th Membership Meeting:
Endangered Mariana Crows of Micronesia by Drs. Jim & Renee Ha

Please join us for this special presentation to learn about this conservation-focused behavioral case study on the decline of the Mariana Crow.

Drs. Jim and Renee Ha's research group has been tasked with determining the cause(s) of the decline of the Mariana crow (Corvus kubaryi) on the Micronesian island of Rota. Results generated by their work suggest that, without intervention, this population of about 160 birds will be extinct in about 20 years. Possible threats include habitat loss or modification, hunting, typhoons, interspecific competition, disease, predation, and inbreeding. Their work has focused on supporting or refuting each of these possible threats using a combined approach of historical data record analyses and the collection of critical data in the field. Behavioral work has included banding and observing individual birds, radio telemetry, nest monitoring, digital video cameras at the nest, and island-wide bird surveys. Their findings include data on the 7 hypothesized threats to the population, as well as breeding behavior, nest site/habitat selection, home range size and juvenile dispersal.

Because of their contributions, we now understand several causes of the decline, and are moving towards recovery of the species before it goes extinct.

Please join us at REI Downtown for this special event on Thursday, April 19th from 7 – 8pm. Desserts and refreshments will be served at the meeting. We encourage attendees to arrive early to save a seat!