Wintering and Migratory Habits of Martha's Vineyard Black Skimmers with BiodiversityWorks

The Vineyard Haven Library is pleased to welcome biologists Luanne Johnson and Liz Olson of BiodiversityWorks for a presentation on findings from the Martha's Vineyard Black Skimmer banding project. This event will be held at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 2nd at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, located at 51 Spring Street in Vineyard Haven (above Tisbury Town Hall). Free and open to the public. No registration required.

BiodiversityWorks has been collaborating with The Trustees, MassWildlife, and the Town of Edgartown to band black skimmer chicks with colored, field-readable bands that are unique to each bird. The project has banded 58 chicks since it began in 2017, and receives re-sights from birdwatchers and other biologists every fall and winter. In this presentation, they share the remarkable migratory movements, relationships, and winter hot spots revealed from reports of these banded birds. 

BiodiversityWorks director and founder Luanne Johnson is a wildlife biologist with a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies and Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England, a B.S. in Zoology from Butler University, and 30 years of experience as a conservation biologist. Assistant director Liz Olson is a wildlife biologist with an M.S. in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England and a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of New Hampshire.

Founded in 2011, BiodiversityWorks is dedicated to promoting the conservation of biodiversity on Martha’s Vineyard through a combination of wildlife research and monitoring, while at the same time providing opportunities for people to engage in hands-on nature study. The organization researches and protects dozens of species, from endangered shorebirds to native snakes to the Northern Long Eared Bat.

For more information, please contact the library at vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org or (508) 696-4211.