From the striking American Avocet to the drab, diminutive Semi-palmated Sandpiper, over 30 species of shorebirds pass through Siouxland each year. Though 5 species are known to breed here, over 25 species pass through each Spring and Fall and can only be found for short periods during each of those seasons. Even so, finding them is only part of the challenge since so many wear look-alike cryptic plumages that make identification a formidable challenge. Add to that, many of the species look different in the Fall than they looked during their Spring visit.

Jerry Probst and Bill Huser will try to sort through this bewildering array and with the aid of excellent photographs and sound recordings, will show the important fieldmarks of each species and the distinguishing differences between them.

Jerry and Bill are longtime local birders who have birded together since the early 1970’s and have learned much from the earlier efforts of Bob Nickolson, Larry Farmer, Willis Hall and Mark and Ed Brogie. Over the years the two have participated in the US Fish and Wildlife Breeding Bird Surveys, six Breeding Bird Atlas projects (2 in each of our 3 states), a study of Piping Plover and Least Tern use of power plant flyash settlement ponds, a Cerulean Warbler occurrence study and numerous Christmas Bird Counts in three states and two countries.

This program is free and open to the public and will be held at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, 4500 Sioux Road (IA Hwy-12), Sioux City, IA.

Board Meeting begins at 6:00 PM with our presentation beginning at 7:00 PM