February 9, 7:00 p.m. Dr. Sylvia Halkin - Squirrels: Birders' Enemy #1? Or Intriguing Survivors? Jones Auditorium of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, 06504. Free and open to the public.
For just one evening, let's give equal time to the clever non-avian creatures that we might as well admit will always be with us. Dr. Sylvia Halkin will tell us about the complex nut-storing behavior of these extremely familiar but not always welcome backyard visitors. Her biology students at CCSU have gotten not only to learn scientific methodology but have had some good fun too in their research on Eastern Gray Squirrels. These animals depend on the nuts that they store for food over the winter and have a remarkable diversity of strategies to protect their stashes from potential thieves. The shrewd tacticians even change their nut-storing behavior in response to recent theft. Enjoy a presentation about the resourceful animals that at times outwit even the professor and her students. Dr. Halkin has published in major science journals on her research on song repertoire use by Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees and bill-tucking orientation of birds resting in groups, as well as on her work on squirrels. She and her students have appeared on Animal Planet network's Most Extreme Pirates. Social half-hour at 7:00, program begins at 7:30. For more information: www.newhavenbirdclub.org or call 203-230-1697.