Common Winter Birds of Eastern Oregon & Beyond

Common Winter Birds of Eastern Oregon & Beyond
Tuesdays, November 2nd to December 7th, 2021 – Skip November 23rd 
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM via Zoom 
NOTE: Sessions will be recorded and access will be given to all registered participants. 

Birding can be great fun but frustrating until you become familiar with the local birds and learn the skills that expert birders use. This course will kick-start your abilities. We will cover the best techniques to separate and narrow identification. Both beginner and intermediate birders will learn a lot and get a lot of practice. There will be self-assessment quizzes. Key characteristics including shape, size, color patterns, behaviors, habitat, and sounds will be reviewed. We will cover about 120 common species found in Oregon and Washington during the winter, their identification, where they live, and a little on their songs and calls. 

THE GOALS OF THIS COURSE 

1. To help you learn to identify by sight birds that winter with an emphasis on Eastern Oregon. Participants will learn a little about these bird species' ecology and breeding. 

2. To learn to identify by sight the most common winter birds likely to be found in terrestrial and wetland habitats across Oregon. We will focus on many challenging to tell apart species groups, looking at the best characteristics to consider in separating them. We will cover some calls and songs where they may be helpful during the winter. 

3. We will look at various online resources that can help you find birding places in Oregon. Often local parks, national wildlife refuges, and waterfront areas can be outstanding birding. The nice thing about birding is you can do it from your home, on neighborhood walks, or by taking day trips or longer. This course will help you have fun doing all these things.  

OUTCOME 

Participants will gain an essential understanding of all the techniques that expert birders use to make their identification. As a result, you should have more confidence in knowing what to look for to separate similar-looking species and how to narrow down the possibilities. The goal is to help you learn 120 species that you might see during a trip to a local park, national wildlife refuge, or other good birding spots. In addition, we will cover the use of the Merlin App and Bird Books for identification and look at other birding resources that are available online. 

This course is taught as five 90-minute sessions and includes access to additional materials through Google Classroom.  

Dates: 

Tuesday, November 2nd 

Tuesday, November 9th 

Tuesday, November 16th 

Tuesday, November 30th 

Tuesday, December 7th 

NOTE: Due to the pandemic, this course will not include field trips. Independent study is encouraged. It is crucial that our birding is respectful of the COVID-19 recommendations and keeps you and everyone safe. This article from eBird is helpful: https://ebird.org/news/please-bird-mindfully. 

REQUIREMENTS 

• Participants will need a good internet connection and either a computer or tablet. All lectures will be done using Zoom video conferencing software, which is free to download, and we will use all the protocols for security. To learn more about Zoom, click here or to download the application to your computer or tablet, click here.  

• Google Classroom, which is also free, will allow us to provide the PowerPoints before and after each class, recordings of the presentations, and lots of other supplemental material, including practice exercises. Participants will need a Gmail account to access Google Classroom. Gmail accounts are also free. Much of the material on Google Classroom will remain available following the class. NOTE: If you choose not to get a Gmail account, you will not be able to access the content on Google Classroom, but you will be able to attend the Zoom lectures. 

• We will go over the use of the Merlin App that Cornel Laboratory of Ornithology has produced. This app is free and available for smartphones and tablets. Allaboutbirds.org has a link to an online version. If you do not have a smartphone or tablet, you can use a bird book for those exercises. Information on the app and links to download are found here https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org. After you download it, load the West Coast Bird Pack to have local birds on the app.  

COURSE CANCELLATION POLICY  
If an attendee cancels their registration within 7 days of the first class they will be refunded 100% of their registration. After 7 days but with atleast 36 hours before the first class the registrant will be refunded 50% of their registration. For a cancellation within 36 hrs there will be no refund unless there are extenuating circumstances that are communicated to FOMR. 

If the host or instructor must cancel a class for any reason, they will give reasonable notice and reschedule as soon as possible. 

REGISTRATION
Registration will Open on Friday October 1st and CLOSE at Noon on Monday November 1st. 
FOMR Members - $100
Non-Members - $125

SCHOLARSHIPS
FOMR and Dr Bancroft are offering 4 - 50% OFF Scholarships for youth/students and Educators who would like to attend this course. If you would like to apply for a scholarship please email friends@malheurfriends.org.
More scholarships may become available if other participants choose to donate $50 and sponsor additioanl scholarsship. 

IMPORTANT: To access the Member Pricing you must LOG IN to your Membership portal on our website.
If you wish to become a Member to take advantage of the ticket discount you will need to sign up for a Membership and then register separately after your Membership is confirmed. 
If you have questions about this please email Janelle, friends@malheufriends.org