2026 Virtual Birding Seminars

Intro to Flycatchers: A Continental Perspective

Presenter: Gautam Apte

Flycatchers are some of the most widespread, yet least understood birds in the world. While making sense of the maze of greens, browns, and grays is a challenge we all face, understanding the background of this wonderfully diverse group is an adventure all of its own! Gautam Apte will share an overview of flycatchers as a group, exploring their evolutionary background and immense variation across the Americas. From the hundreds of “lookalikes” to unique and spectacular species, learning about flycatchers will offer a fresh perspective for the next time you encounter one in the wild.

Speaker Bio: Coming Soon

Introduction to the Art of Flycatcher Identification

Presenter: Dr. Cin-Ty Lee

Flycatchers are notoriously difficult to identify. They cannot be identified based on single field marks. They seem to morph in color depending on lighting conditions. And any given field mark seems to overlap slightly between each species.  Identification instead requires a holistic approach, where multiple field marks must be combined. We will introduce the basics of how to approach the field identification of flycatchers. 

Cin-Ty Lee grew up in southern California. He has been a professor of geology at Rice University in Houston, Texas for 22 years with research focused on critical minerals and volcanoes. He has been an avid birder since he was 10 years old. Over the years, he has coauthored numerous articles on the identification of challenging groups of birds, such as the pewees, dowitchers, female orioles, pipits, and loons. His most recent contributions are the two volume Princeton Field Guide Series to Flycatchers of North America. While he’s not working on flycatchers, he is busy recording and analyzing nocturnal flight calls of migrating birds in Houston, Texas, with a specific interest in monitoring grassland sparrow populations.

Vocalization of Flycatchers

Presenter: Nathan Pieplow

Presentation Coming Soon

Nathan Pieplow is an accomplished teacher of writing and published author. An internationally recognized expert in bird vocalizations, he is the author of the two-volume Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of North America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 and 2019). He is also the co-author of the mid-grade novel Confessions of a Mango (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2026).

His primary research interests include avian bioacoustics, quantitative rhetoric, and the rhetoric of data visualization.

The Secret Lives of Tyrant Flycatchers

Presenter: Dr. Mike Husak

I was born and raised in Victoria, TX, where I started bird watching at age 10. After graduating from Victoria High School, I attended Victoria College before transferring to Angelo State University where I received a BS and MS in Biological Sciences under the mentorship of the late Dr. Terry Maxwell. My MS thesis was “Seasonal Variation in Territorial Behavior of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers.” I completed a PhD in Biological Sciences at Mississippi State University with w dissertation titled “Effects of Greentree Reservoirs on Avian Community Structure in Bottomland Hardwood Forests.” I have been on the faculty at Cameron University since 2003 where I am a currently Professor of Biology in the Dept. of Agriculture, Biology, and Health Sciences. While my research has addressed a number of questions about the natural history and ecology of vertebrates in Oklahoma, my primary emphasis since 2008 has been population ecology and life history strategies of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, with some linked projects to Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbirds, Tropical Kingbirds, and Fork-tailed Flycatchers.

How You Can Become a Better Flycatcher Photographer in the Field

Presenter: Mitch Barry

When trying to photograph flycatchers there are a couple key things to keep in mind! During this presentation we will take a deeper look at how paying attention to habitat, knowing the behavior of the flycatcher species you are targeting and the lighting changes within your area can provide you with excellent photos!

My name is Mitchell Barry and I am the Macaulay Library Video Project Coordinator at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Most of my work is focused on the development of a video contributor community within the Macaulay Library. My goal is to both increase the quality of our video archive for scientific purposes while at the same time utilizing these videos to better inform the public about birds and engage them within their local communities. I have been a birder almost my entire life and have become passionate about photography in recent years! I hope that through this presentation I can inspire some of you to pick up a camera and begin to explore the world around you through a lens as well!

Eastern Phoebe Found at Nest Sites Previously Used by Say’s Phoebe

Presenter: John M. Schukman

Say’s (Sayornis saya) and Eastern (S. phoebe) phoebe overlap across much of the Great Plains where their breeding ranges reach their respective eastern and western range limits. In a recent study we used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to assess vegetation biomass in relation to phoebe occurrences in a study area of central west Kansas. We found that the 16 nest sites occupied by Eastern Phoebes, but that had been occupied by Say’s Phoebes previously, had significantly increased NDVI values, suggesting that habitat changes (i.e., increasing vegetation) favor Eastern Phoebes, and might explain ongoing westward range shifts and geographic displacement of Say’s by Eastern phoebes.

John Schukman, a former high school biology teacher, received a B.S. and M.S. in Biology/Wildlife Ecology from Fort Hays State University, and further study at the University of Kansas (KU). He is retired from a home construction and inspection business. For the past 30 years he has contracted and/or volunteered to conduct bird surveys for Audubon of Kansas, the Kansas and Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas, the USFWS, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Christmas Bird Counts, the Kansas University Biological Survey, and for wind energy companies. He has held several positions in the Kansas Ornithological Society including President, board member of Audubon of Kansas, and is presently an advisory board member for the KU Natural History Museum/Biodiversity Institute. In 2023 he was recognized for his long-term avian surveys at Fort Leavenworth, KS with the Research Individual Award at the Military Natural Resource Conservation meeting in St. Louis. He is married to Linda and they have two grown daughters, Beth and Abby, two grandsons, and two step grandchildren. They enjoy their home of 5 acres of a oak, cherry, and walnut tree forest in northeast Kansas.