State College Bird Club
28 Oct. 2009
The State College Bird Club met at Foxdale Village on 28 Oct.
2009. Twenty-five members and guests attended; Deb Grove presided.
Business
Nan Butkovich read the minutes. Deb Grove read the
checklist. Attendees reported 103 species within a 25-mile
radius of Old Main since 1 Sept. 2009. Species of note included
Peregrine Falcon and American Pipit.
Announcements
• Local Christmas Bird Counts are calling for participants.
• Two members, Lois Braun and Ed Budd, passed away
since our last meeting. A Suggestion was made that books be
donated to the library at Foxdale and the public library in their
memories.
• Nick Thomas, the Environmental Specialist at Bald
Eagle St. Pk., will be doing a series of “Birding at the Park” field
trips this fall.
Upcoming events
• 1 Nov.: Field trip to Waggoner’s Gap.
• 8 Nov.: Field trip to Bald Eagle St. Pk.
• 18 Nov.: Joe Verica will speak about birds of Taiwan.
• 3 Feb.: Owling at Bald Eagle St. Pk.
• 8 May: Bald Eagle St. Pk. Bird Festival
Presentation
Don Dearborn gave a presentation on “Mate Choice and Defense against
Disease: Is Inbreeding Bad for Birds’ Immune Function?” His work
has been conducted on Greater Frigatebirds nesting at Tern Island, a
tiny atoll in the French Frigate Shoals NWR in the Hawaiian Islands
chain. Studies in sea lions and Galapagos Hawks showed that
diseased animals had less genetic diversity than did healthy animals,
suggesting that the lack of genetic diversity made them more
susceptible to diseases. However, his work with the Frigatebirds
showed that they chose to inbreed, with females often chosing related
males over unrelated males, and their response to unfamiliar foreign
cells was not predicted by inbreeding.
Minutes taken by Nan Butkovich, Secretary