State College Bird
Club
24 February 2010
The State College Bird Club met at Foxdale Village on 24 Feb.
2010. Twenty-six members and guests attended; Deb Grove presided.
Business
• Deb Grove, on behalf of the State College Bird
Club, presented a copy of Scott Weidensaul’s “Living on the Wind” to
Barbara Koutz, the Foxdale librarian.
• Margie Bastachek, a longtime member, passed away
last week.
• Nan Butkovich read the minutes.
• Dorothy Bordner presented the Treasurer’s report.
• She also read the checklist. XXX species were
reported since 28 Jan. within a 25-mile radius of Old Main.
Species of note included Wilson’s Snipe, American Pipit, Swamp Sparrow,
Snow Bunting, and Rusty Blackbird.
Announcements
• The owling field trip to Bald Eagle State Park had
good attendance. Two owl species (Great Horned Owl and Eastern
Screech-owl) were noted.
• The Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch will be staffed
through March 31. There is a Raptorthon underway to raise funds
for it.
Upcoming events
• 24 March: the Jacksons and the Kylers will present
a program on birding in southeast Arizona.
Presentation
Jason Hill gave a presentation on “Moving beyond correlation: testing
the role of habitat quality as a limiting factor in avian
populations.” There are several limiting factors on population,
such as density, predation, and habitat. Grassland species are
declining precipitously due to habitat loss. In Pennsylvania
grasslands tend to be reclaimed strip mines, which are generally poor
habitat.
He is starting the second year of a three year study. He has
established baseline densities, predation levels, interspecies
competition, and habitat factors. The study area has several
research plots, each of which contain good, average, and bad
habitat. Now that the baseline factors have been identified, the
Game Commission has cleared half of the plots of all shrubs.
Study results will then be compared with the baseline data.
Minutes taken by Nan Butkovich, Secretary