General Meeting / Monthly Speaker

Sacramento Audubon Society’s General Meeting includes a Monthly Speaker event that focuses on birds and/or the natural world. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month, September through May (except in December).

Past programs have included presentations on Yellow-billed Magpies, exotic bird locations, and conservation. Most of our online presentations are recorded. If you missed any of the past virtual presentations, you can watch them by scrolling down to past speaker presentations.

Volunteer Opportunity

Sacramento Audubon is seeking a Hospitality Chair to coordinate refreshments for the General Meetings and Speaker Presentations. For more information on this position and other Sacramento Audubon Society volunteer opportunities visit our Volunteer webpage.

Upcoming Speaker Presentations

May 2024 Speaker Presentation

Amazing Adaptations: How Birds Cope with Hardship
Presented by: Jamie Cornelius
Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 7:00PM

Most of us humans are able to retreat to the safety of a building or a well-stocked pantry to wait out storms, smoke, or heat waves…but what do all the birds do? Do they also seek shelter? Do they leave? How long can they wait before they must go try to find food? Such decisions can literally mean life or death, but some amazing adaptations help them to cope with times of unpredictable food and highlight how important social interactions are for birds.

Dr. Jamie Cornelius and her lab study behavioral and physiological strategies that birds use to cope with unpredictable change. In other words, why do some birds survive better than others when the going gets tough? She’ll describe field and lab experiments that help us understand their needs and what strategies might help them to cope with global change. Jamie is an assistant professor at Oregon State University in the Department of Integrative Biology and was a post-doctoral scholar at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Germany and a Fulbright fellow at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. She earned a B.S. in Zoology at the University of Washington and her PhD in Animal Behavior at nearby UC Davis!

Attend the Meeting and Presentation

This meeting will be a hybrid session. Sacramento Audubon will be hosting a watch party at Effie Yeaw Nature Center or you can participate from your home via Zoom. Light refreshments will be available at Effie Yeaw.

Attend the Meeting in Person
Registration is not necessary to attend the meeting at Effie Yeaw Nature Center.

Effie Yeaw Nature Center
2850 San Lorenzo Way
Carmichael, CA

Attend the Meeting online via Zoom
The presentation will be streamed in real time on ZOOM from Effie Yeaw. To attend the meeting via Zoom you will need to register for the meeting. Registration is required due to space limitations set by Zoom.

You must register to attend the online meeting on ZOOM, but you do not need a ZOOM account to join the meeting. After registering for the online Zoom meeting, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the meeting. (You do not need to register to attend the meeting at Effie Yeaw.)

Please email our Meeting Coordinator if you have any questions about the monthly speaker meetings.

2024 Programs

April 2024 Speaker Presentation
Falkland Islands
Presented by: Michele McCormick

March 2024 Speaker Presentation
Magnificent India
Presented by: Andy Engilis

February 2024 Speaker Presentation
South America: Diversity and Rare Birds
Presented by: John Sterling

Video Unavailable

January 2024 Speaker Presentation
Birding Above the Artic Circle
Presented by Glyn and Sylvia Dawson

2023 Programs

November 2023 Speaker Presentation
Monarch Butterflies - A Conservation Opportunity for Native Species
Presented by Melissa Burns

October 2023 Speaker Presentation
From Sea to Summit: The Marvelous Hummingbird
Presented by Benny Isaac Jacobs-Schwartz

September 2023 Speaker Presentation
The Language of Birds
Presented by Nathan Pieplow

May 2023 Speaker Presentation
Understanding Common Raven Behavior and Movement to Protect Western Snowy Plovers
Presented by: Janelle Chojnacki

April 2023 Speaker Presentation
Cancelled

March 2023 Speaker Presentation
A 27 Year Wildflower Journey: The Making of Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change
Presenters: Rob Badger and Nina Winter

February 2023 Speaker Presentation
Papua New Guinea
Presenter: Chris Conard

January 2023 Speaker Presentation
Presentation by Jonelle Mason of Project Learning Tree

2022 Programs

November 2022 Speaker Presentation
Birds of Belize
Presented by Richard Cimino

October 2022 Speaker Presentation
Multiple Lines of Evidence Indicate Survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana
Presented by John Trochet

September 2022 Speaker Presentation
CalTrout: Fish and Bird Management and Conservation
Presented by Cliff Feldheim and Molly Ancel

May 2022 Speaker Presentation
Following the Scent of Avian Olfaction
Presented by Dr. Gabrielle Nevitt

April 2022 Speaker Presentation
Desert Exploration, Desert Birding
Presented by: Chris Conard

March 2022 Speaker Presentation
International Bird Rescue
Presented by: JD Bergeron, IBR

Video not available.

February 2022 Speaker Presentation
Birding the Capital: A nature photographer’s exploration of bird life across Sacramento and its regional parks
Presented by Jamieson Scott

January 2022 Speaker Presentation
Successful Backyard Nestboxes
Presented by Mike Azevedo and Georgette Howington of the California Bluebird Recovery Program

Find more information at the California Bluebird Recovery Program website, www.cbrp.org or Facebook page, www.facebook.com/bluebirdrecovery.

2021 Programs

November 2021 Speaker Presentation
A Galápagos Adventure
Presented by Susan Goodrich

October 2021 Speaker Presentation
Breeding Birds of Sacramento: A Tale of Two Atlases and Three Decades of Change Presented by: Ed Pandolfino

The book upon which Ed’s talk is based can be purchased through the Central Valley Bird Club.

September 2021 Speaker Presentation
How to Photograph Birds
Presented by: William J. Carroll III

At the end of the presentation William was asked where he takes most of his photos. He provided the following list of his favorite locations.

• Gristmill Recreation Area

• American River Parkway, Harrington Access

• William B. Pond Recreation Area

• River Bend Park

• Mather Regional Park

• Natomas Oak Park

• Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

• Shady Trail (Fair Oaks)

• Lower Sunrise Recreation Area

May 2021 Speaker Presentation
Populations and Habitat of the Yellow-billed Magpie in Sacramento
Presented by: Dan Airola

April 2021 Speaker Presentation
In Search of Meadowlarks
Presented by: John Marzloff

March 2021 Speaker Presentation
Learning to Fight the Climate Crisis
Presented by: Susan Schneider

Download a PDF of the PowerPoint Slides for this presentation.

Download an annotated list of Susan Schneider’s
favorite climate change / sustainability books.

February 2021 Speaker Presentation
Tricolored Blackbird Conservation
Presented by: Xerónimo Castañeda

January 2021 Speaker Presentation
Sierra Pollinators
Presented by: Helen Loffland

2020 Programs

November 2020 Speaker Presentation
Biking for Birds: 365 days, 18,000 miles, 618 species, 1 amazing adventure
Presented by: Dorian Anderson

October 2020 Speaker Presentation
My Favorite Bird
Presented by: David Yee

September 2020 Speaker Presentation
Southern Ecuador: In Search of Rare, Local, and New Species
Presented by: Vayun Tiwari

2018-19 Programs
Born in the USA - Bald Eagles  
Coyotes
Education and Birding
How Woodpeckers Can Save the World
eBird
Bald Eagles in the Wild-A Visual Essay of America's National Bird
Morroco
Nesting Grebes in the High Lakes of Plumas County

2017-18 Programs 
Swainson's Hawks 
Sandhill Crane Biology and Viewing
Yolo Bypass State Wildlife Area
Norway/Svalbard
Cuba
Birding Spots of I-5
Rediscovering Peru
South Africa

2016-17 Programs
A Visit to Borneo
Paraguay
Shrinking Salton Sea
Things that Sting and Bite
Historical Records Into ebird
A Year in the Life of a North American Owl
The Game Warden's Son
Wildlife of Indian, Bhutan, and Thailand

2015-16 Programs
Birds of South America
Birds and Wildlife of Northern Japan
Why we bird
Our Changing Oceans
Black-backed Woodpeckers
Giant Gartersnake
Birding Alaska
Birds of Saudi Arabia

2014-15 Programs
Birds & Culture of Oaxaca
Rattlesnakes
Northern Saw-whet Owls
Flammulated Owls of Lake Davis
California Spiders
Tricolored Blackbirds
Bird Learning, Instinct, and Intelligence
Wetlands of California's Central Valley

2013-14 Programs
Birds of Sierra Nevada
Midway Atoll Albatrosses
Wood Ducks
Saw-whet Owl migration
White-nosed syndrome in Bats
Sierra Nevada Adaptive Mgmt Project
Birds of Borneo
Indonesian Birds

2012-13 Programs
Sacramento Region's Ecosystems
San Juaquin River Restoration
History of Falconry
Ring Tailed Cats
eBird
Birding Montana
Pelagic Birds
Arctic Summer

2011-12 Programs
Farming Shorebirds in California Rice Fields
Bird Species Changes in Central Valley
Anza-Borrego’s Sister Park in Mongolia
Great Grey Owls
Audubon CA. & Renewable Energy
Around the world starting at Mono Lake
The Mystery of Bird Song
Native bees in our Yards

2010-11 Programs
Tricolor Blackbirds
Blue Whales
Our birds and Baja California
Birding in Chile
Birds of Antarctica
Winter Raptors
Central Valley Red Fox
East African Mammals and Birds

2009-10 Programs
Sandhill Cranes
Sparrow Identification
Hokkaido in Winter 
Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area: Present & Future 
Protecting California Birds 
A First Visit to Australia
Africa on Steroids 
Birding in Delhi, India

2008-09 Programs
The Farallones 
Raptor Identification
Christmas Count Workshop
Save Our Sandhill Cranes
Wildlife Care
Birding Alaska
Exploring the Sierra Nevada
Swainson’s Hawk

2007-08 Programs
Natural History of Red Crossbills
Bird Banding in Hungary
Christmas Count Workshop
Bluebird Nesters Want Your Help
Kirkland Warbler and Others
Checkerspot Butterfly 
Sacramento’s Purple Martins
Audubon California Projects

2006-07 Programs
Burrowing Owls in California
Birds of the Tahoe Rim Trail
Christmas Count Workshop
The Ivory Billed Woodpecker
Art, Nature & the Sierra Nevada
Raptor Tracking at Golden Gate
The California Black Rail
Birds and Beauty of Bhutan

Held at 7pm on the third Thursday of every month (except for June, July and December), the General Meeting consists of two parts: Chapter Business and Monthly Speaker. During the first 10 minutes of the meeting Sacramento Audubon Society business items are addressed such as the election of new board members and officers or the approval of changes to the Society’s bylaws. The rest of the meeting is devoted to the Monthly Speaker.