STATE COLLEGE BIRD CLUB

13 December 2006

The State College Bird Club met at the State College Borough Building on 13 December 2006.  Thirty-one members and guests attended; Jim Dunn presided. 

Business

Nan Butkovich read the November meeting minutes, which were approved.  Dorothy Bordner read the checklist.  Attendees reported 92 species within a 25 mile radius of Old Main since 15 November 2006.  Species of note included Red-throated Loon, Northern Goshawk, and Cackling Goose.

Upcoming field trips include Big Valley in January and the annual Manure Chase in February.  Check the website for further details.

There was a call for volunteers to help with area Christmas Bird Counts, and the Bird Club Christmas Tree at the Festival of Trees generated a lot of good publicity for the club. 

Presentation

Eva Pendleton reported on “Avian Influenza: Biology of the Disease in Birds.”  There is a wide range of bird flu viruses, most are relatively benign.  Outbreaks in poultry are usually traceable to close contact with infected domestic or wild waterfowl.  Live bird markets are prime sources of this contact.  Where there is little contact between wild and domestic species, there is very little spread of the virus.  There is some research that suggests that the H5N1 virus initially developed in domestic species that was then spread to wild populations in 1996.  Human infections tend to come from domestic rather than wild populations.

Recorded by

Nan Butkovich, Secretary