Workshops with Alvaro Jaramillo for the Birder and Naturalist

Put your birding into an ecological context! These workshops incorporate ecology, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and natural history to complement bird identification information taught in class. Alvaro always offers up fresh materials gleaned from his extensive travels and research. Please join him for these fun and informative workshops!

Sparrows - The Little Brown Jobs
Owl Workshop
Migrant Landbirds - Warblers, Vireos, Thrushes and More!

2012 Workshops

Well-camouflaged and perfectly adapted to living low and near the ground, sparrows are often categorized as “little brown jobs” by birders. Seldom are sparrows boldly marked or colorful, however, sparrows are distinctive once you concentrate on more obvious differences such as shape, behavior, voice, and habitat. Also, learning how to see browns, beige and cream as individual colors will make sparrows a vividly different as warblers! Armed with this knowledge, you will find that sparrows are not nearly as difficult to identify as you have been lead to believe. Often on the ground, sparrows are especially easy to observe - in fact an advantage of sparrow watching is that you do not get “warbler neck." In addition, sparrows have afforded scientists important opportunities to learn about bird song, dialects, territoriality, and migration patterns. Come and learn how to simplify the identification of sparrows, gain an appreciation for this largely North American group of birds, and get a summary of their natural history and influence on ornithology.

Birding Level: Beginner on up.

Physical Requirements (for fieldtrip): Light to moderate depending how much we need to walk. Most sites are on flat terrain, although we may visit at least one site that has trails on a slope; we will take it easy though – you will not need mountain climbing gear for this workshop.

Owl Workshop
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Tuesday, Mar. 27th, 6:30 – 9:00 pm (instruction)
Thursday, Mar. 29th, 6:30 – 9:00 pm (instruction and field trip)
Saturday, Mar. 31st (field trip), Half Moon Bay to Southern San Mateo County

Owls have a loyal following, including people who generally don’t pay much attention to birds. Why are owls so special? It may be that owls seem so mysterious to us - sleeping while we are awake and becoming active at night. Of course, owls can be difficult to see and find, and are well known for having amazing hearing. This workshop is designed to do two things: 1) Address identification, habitat and how to find the local owls, and 2) learn more about the owls themselves and their fascinating ecology and behavior. We will study their sounds and get participants ready to go and find owls in the field. We are excited to get out and see these amazing creatures!

Birding Level: Beginner on up.

Physical Requirements (for field trip): Moderate. We will do some easy walking at night. The field trips will be a little different than others. A Thursday night field trip will occur immediately after the second classroom session in the San Jose or Milpitas area. The second field trip on Saturday will be on the coast, looking for Northern Saw-whet Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl, among others. Weather can be variable at this time of year, so bring layers.

Migrant Landbirds - Warblers, Vireos, Thrushes and More!
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Tuesday, May 1st, Thursday, May 3rd (instruction), 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Sunday, May 6th (field trip), TBA

Nothing in birding and ornithology is perhaps as exciting as migration! Throughout the world birds move, and this has captured our imaginations from ancient times until now. Fortunately today we have many more tools at our disposal to help understand migration, and begin to explain how these little creatures do it. This course is an introduction and summary of bird migration, but also it is a way to get to know the identification and biology of a sampling of our local migratory landbirds, focusing on warblers, vireos, tanagers, thrushes and a few other local landbirds. We will get to enjoy migratory birds, learn about them, and also discuss migration itself. How it happens, how they do it, and why they do it. We will follow some of our birds to the south, to find out what they do while in winter, and where they go to spend the time they are not here with us. Our field trip will focus on areas where we can find migrant landbirds; some may already be in our territory, while others will still be on the move.

Birding Level: Beginner on up.

Physical Requirements (for field trip): Light. We will bird various trails, coastal spots and generally flat areas without much slope. At this time of year active migration is most easily visible on the coast. We will spend some time watching visual migration on the coast, before looking for migrant and resident landbirds in the San Mateo coast or the skyline.

Registration & Payment

Each workshop is $150 per person. We have changed our membership benefits! You must have an active membership to register for a workshop. To check your membership status please call 408-946-6548 and we will be happy to assist you. You can also make a membership payment online by visiting our secure website.

You can register for a workshop using one of the three registration methods below.

1. Write a check, payable to the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. Print out and complete this registration form, and mail your check and registration form to 524 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035.

2. Pay online using our secure website. Under the Donation menu, there is a drop-down menu titled “Program-Designation;" please select "Adult Birding Workshop." In the "Dedication" line, please be sure to include any other pertinent information, such as the class name or the number of participants.
Then email Kathi Kendrick at kkendrick@sfbbo.org with the following:
Name of the workshop
Your name
Your email
Phone number

3. Call us with your credit card number. Please call our office at 408-946-6548.

Once you have followed these steps, we will confirm your reservation via email. Please follow the instructions above or the process may be delayed.

Each workshop is limited to 15-20 students; workshops that are full will be marked as [full].

You must be a minimum of 16 years of age to participate in a workshop.

Other Information

Times: Instruction evenings are from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.; field trip times and location TBA.