Photo © Marilú Lopez Fretts

We are offering full scholarships for youth and chaperones living in low-income communities to attend a two-day Birds, Careers, and Conservation Workshop at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology August 7-8. Scholarships will cover travel, accommodations, meals, and cost of the workshop.

We are looking for outstanding youth, 15-21 years old, who are interested in learning more about careers in science and conservation and who would like to make an impact in their community. Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of financial need and academic potential.

The workshop will focus on careers in the sciences, community stewardship, and cutting-edge conservation science research at the Lab. In addition, participants will learn about Cornell, explore the value of participatory science and critical thinking, arts and conservation, and paths to higher education. Staff from seven departments at the Cornell Lab will share their expertise and time.

At the workshop, you will meet outstanding professionals and researchers from the Lab of Ornithology. You will participate in diverse activities including bird banding, recording sounds in the local woods, creating bird and conservation-themed art, learning about citizen science, and more!

All youth participants must attend with a chaperone!

If you would like to apply to the workshop click here.

If you know any youth who might benefit from this opportunity, please click here to nominate them!

We encourage applications from underserved communities.

“I loved the program, not just because of the great variety of information that I learned, but also because it was really fun. I had a great time and I met new people. My favorite part was everything, but especially when we listened to the sounds of nature.” – Past Participant

Read about previous workshops:

Birds, Careers and Conservation Workshop August 2016

Birds, Careers and Conservation Youth Workshop April 2016

Birds, Careers and Conservation Youth Workshop August 2015

Birds, Careers and Conservation Youth Workshop June 2015

Article by Juan Ramirez Correa and Debbie Nero

Photo © Herb Elliot via Macaulay Library

Living in a flock has many benefits for birds, especially during the winter. As a group, they can find food more easily, huddle together to keep warm, and more eyes can spot predators faster. The Black-capped Chickadee is one of the small birds in the northern part of the United States that may be found in flocks.

Each flock has its own rules, which are reinforced with pecks – a bird’s way of saying “back off.” The majority of flocks follow one of two systems: the peck-right and the peck-dominance. Imagine a staircase where a bird is on every step based on their rank. Each bird can peck any of the birds on the steps below it, but not the ones on the steps above it. This is the peck-right system.

The Black-capped Chickadees, though, prefer the peck-dominance system. This system allows everyone to peck each other. However, the frequency of the pecks depends on the bird’s rank. Dominant birds are pecked less and can peck more, while the lower ranking birds are pecked more and can peck less. But how do they know their ranks? Well, ranks are demonstrated through song and plumage. Researchers have found that Black-capped Chickadees are able to infer ranks of new or visiting males based on their songs, and properly integrate them into the flock.

Not all chickadees remain with the same flock. Some are “winter floaters,” meaning they do not belong to a single flock and join different ones when it is convenient for them. These floaters have different ranks within each of the flocks where they spend their time.

You can see this system at work when the flock is feeding. Dominant birds eat first. On the trees nearby, the less dominant ones will be waiting for their turn. So, next time, when you see a flock of chickadees hanging around your bird feeder, pay close attention to the interesting dynamics of the flock!

Article by Michelle Santillán

Learn about the Macaulay Library in our next webinar in Spanish. We’ll explain, step-by-step, how to use its resources. Anyone interested in getting to know the diverse collection of audio, video, and photographic recordings and how to use them is welcome. Mark your calendar: the webinar will be offered on Tuesday, December 12, at 6 pm (EST). Duration: approximately 45 minutes. To register, click here!

Learn about our future webinars here!

In our next webinar, learn about the free Merlin Bird ID smartphone app! We’ll teach what the Merlin smartphone app is, how to use it, and how it can support your projects and individual or group activities. The webinar will be in Spanish, and will be offered on Tuesday November 28 at 6pm (EST). Duration: approximately 30 minutes. To learn more about it and register, click here.

Learn about our future webinars here!