WHAT:  Wild Bird Outreach Event, hosted by researchers affiliated with the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center

WHERE:  Girl Scouts’ Camp Howdy at 5321 Jones Rd, Bryan, TX.  Follow the dirt road after the cattle gate. There will be a trailer park on the other side of the fence to your left but keep going until you see a parking lot before the main gate. Please back your car in. Walk through the main gate and follow the sign to RaNap Shelter where we will be set up.

WHEN:  Sunday, December 9, from sun-rise until bird activity slows (best time to join will likely be 7:45 – 10:00am).  Come and go as you please.  Rain will result in the need to reschedule. Forecast: cold and windy… dress warm.

WHY: Come get some experience and enjoy a morning chatting about birds! Our team will be using mist-nets to capture wild birds for research and teaching purposes.  We will demonstrate techniques including: use of mist nets, safe handling of birds, bird identification, applying leg bands, taking biological samples including ticks and blood, and more.  Data we collect will be submitted to the federal Bird Banding Laboratory and also contribute to our ongoing investigations of pathogens in birds.  Like all work with wildlife, we cannot guarantee any capture success.

If you have questions or wish to let us know you’ll join (or if you wish to get an email if we need to cancel last minute for bad weather), please email Spencer DeBrock, PhD student in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.