FCAS Presents

JJ Audubon

"As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature."

J. J. Audubon.

"Some Crossbill Natural History
and the Cassia Crossbill"

presented by

Dr. Craig Benkman
Evolutionary Ecologist, Ornithologist
Professor, University of Wyoming

Thursday, November 12th, 2020
Announcements 7:00 p.m.; Program at 7:20 p.m.

***This will be an online meeting using Zoom***

Enter the following link on your web browser at or before 7 p.m. and follow the instructions to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81677523880

Male Cassia Crossbill photo by Craig Benkman

Male Cassia Crossbill photo by Craig Benkman.

Dr. Craig Benkman will discuss some of the more striking features of crossbills, a group of birds he started studying in 1982. This includes how crossbills use their crossed mandibles to feed, why there is such great size variation among crossbills, and why crossbills are usually nomadic and breed at unusual times. Dr. Benkman will shift focus to the sedentary Cassia Crossbill, a species he found on his way to a conference in Boise, Idaho. He will discuss some of its evolutionary history and ecology, and end by discussing its future prospects in the face of climate change including a fire this fall that burned nearly half of the Cassia Crossbill’s habitat.

Craig Benkman is an evolutionary ecologist and ornithologist, and a Professor and Robert B. Berry Distinguished Chair in Ecology at the University of Wyoming.