Friends of Oregon Ridge Speaker Series – The Health of Our Birds: Initial Findings of the Third MD/DC Breeding Bird Atlas Gabriel Foley, Executive Director, Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership
Wednesday, October 22; 7 - 8:30 p.m. (in the Oregon Ridge Nature Center Auditorium)
More than 200 bird species breed in the Maryland-DC region. The MD/DC Breeding Bird Atlas 3 was a community science project that documented the distribution of the region’s breeding birds from 2020-2025. Over 2,000 volunteers contributed to this dataset, building the most precise, comprehensive dataset of breeding birds ever compiled for our region. Gabriel Foley, who coordinated this project, will discuss what these data tell us about the health of our birds, some of the unexpected discoveries made along the way and how BBA results are used to help inform conservation decision-making regionally and beyond.
Gabriel Foley is the executive director for Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership and the former coordinator for the MD/DC Breeding Bird Atlas. The atlas is a community-science project mapping the distribution of every breeding bird species in the Maryland/DC region. Originally from Canada, Gabriel has studied how nighthawks choose habitat in the Canadian boreal forest and how weavers in southern Africa build their nests. He also hosted a weekly nature radio show called The Prairie Naturalist, is an occasional guest on the American Birding Association podcast and is a trip leader for Quest Nature Tours. Adults $10 per person (FREE for Friends of Oregon Ridge Members)
Registration for this program closes on Tuesday, October 21.
Members may only register guests who are covered by their membership. All other guests must register separately as a non-member. This program will be presented in-person at Oregon Ridge Nature Center. All fees paid are considered donations and are not refundable unless the Friends of Oregon Ridge cancels the program. A reminder email with details will be sent to all registered guests prior to the program.