3RBC
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
We’ll Find Out How “Shade Coffee” Helps Cerulean Warblers
Cerulean Warblers are a favorite of participants in Three Rivers Birding Club outings, and many of us realize sadly that the species has suffered a severe decline throughout its range during the past four decades.
Our club meeting on Wednesday, June 2, will feature a program on habitats called “shade coffee plantations” in South America, where Ceruleans spend the winter. The plantations may be important for conservation of this beautiful bird, and we will learn from an expert how they can help the species.
The meeting will be held at the Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Avenue in Shadyside. Doors will open at 6:30 PM for socializing, the business meeting begins at 7:30, and the program starts at 8.
Our speaker is Andrew Vitz, bird banding coordinator at Powdermill Nature Reserve in Westmoreland County, who titles his program “Birds and Beans – The Role of Shade Coffee in Bird Conservation.” He explains that biologists once thought that Cerulean Warblers relied on mature forests for their winter habitat. Recent studies have documented Ceruleans in other types of habitats, including shade coffee plantations. Research indicates that these plantations provide high-quality wintering habitat for Cerulean Warblers and many other Neotropical migrants.
Dr. Vitz received a bachelor’s degree in biological conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spent four years working as a seasonal field biologist, and received master’s and doctoral degrees in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University.
In graduate studies he investigated the consequences of forest management on songbird populations. He extended the research in a study of fledgling survival and habitat selection of Ovenbirds and Worm-eating Warblers, and his most recent studies focused on habitat suitability of shade coffee plantations and primary forests for Cerulean Warblers and other Neotropical migrants in the Venezuelan Andes.
