Dear Birders,

You are invited to the next LA Birders webinar:

What Makes You Move? Studying movement patterns in the social Florida Scrub-Jay

with Young Ha Suh, PhD

Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 PM – on YouTube

Natal dispersal, the movement from natal to breeding territory, is a crucial life-history event but despite its importance, it is underlooked owing to difficulties in monitoring movements of wild animals. Using long-term data and newly developed tracking devices, Dr. Young Ha Suh studied variation in natal dispersal in a color-banded population of Florida Scrub-Jays, a cooperatively breeding species in which the offspring delay dispersal and remain as helpers on the natal territory. Both social and environmental factors affect dispersal timing and distance, especially when there is strong competition for breeding opportunities. Florida Scrub-Jays also prospect for future breeding opportunities through an information-gathering movement which has costs but can increase their chances of dispersal. High-accuracy tracking tags revealed how frequent and far helpers prospect and provide a new opportunity to study this elusive behavior. Overall, various social and environmental elements seem to affect the costs and benefits of dispersal and explain why we see variation in dispersal patterns for this species.

Join us for a presentation to further our understanding of an essential and poorly understood behavior.

This webinar will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel and will also be recorded for later viewing.

Become a LAB Member! Though our webinars will always remain free and available to all, members of Los Angeles Birders have access to live webinars via Zoom, invitations to special LAB-only field trips, priority sign-up on LAB field trips & events, and discounts on paid LAB programs. To learn more about membership, please see our website! 

Upcoming Programs

3/21/23 The Status, Distribution, and Identification of Alcids in Southern California with David Pereksta (webinar)

4/1/23 Valyermo and Juniper Hills Transect with Kimball Garrett (field trip, FULL)

4/2/23 First Sundays at the Huntington with Katy Mann (members-only field trip, signup in late March)

4/9/23 Tejon Ranch (Los Angeles County) with Frank & Susan Gilliland (field trip, member priority sign up open next week)

4/16/23 Tejon Ranch (Kern County) with Frank & Susan Gilliland (field trip, member priority sign up in 2 weeks)