Springville, Tenn.–The Friends of Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge announce a premier program by renowned Ornithologist Dr. David Pitts, currently retired from many years of teaching at UT Martin. His program entitled “A Study of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds During Nesting Season” will be held Saturday, June 29th at 10:30 am at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center located at 1371 Wildlife Drive in Springville.
Dr. Pitts has spent many years as a bird researcher and has a special focus for ruby-throated hummingbirds. He has been able to find hundreds of hummingbird nests and while making many environmental observations as to their behavior as well as looking at annual variations in nesting success and factors influencing their nesting success.
“Anyone who went to UT Martin in the last half century either had him as a teacher or knew of him as a highly respected and dearly loved professor and bird researcher.” said Cyndi Routledge, master hummingbird bander of Southeastern Avian Research. ” I banded with him for 5 years during part of his ruby-throat nesting research efforts. We would band and mark each bird’s throat with non-toxic markers so we could place the exact bird on the exact nest and record success and failure rates as well as follow that female from building till young fledging and everything in between. As a member of the Tennessee Ornithological Society for more than 50 years and an author of several published bird books and research papers, well let’s just say he is one of the top experts to be talking about this subject!”
Whereas the program is free to attend, it is described as a Friends membership drive and will only be open to those who are currently Friends members. However, it is cheap and easy to become a Friends member and can be done in person at the refuge visitor center, or online at https://friendstnwr.org.
Individuals that are currently Friends members that are wishing to attend Dr. Pitts program are asked to register online and can also do so at https://friendstnwr.org. There will be a limited attendance of the first 80 people to register, so it is recommended to not wait to register for the program.
A second opportunity to learn from Dr. Pitts will be held at 2 pm that Saturday afternoon for a “Hummingbird Nest Finding Workshop”. This will not so much be a program, but a few simple instructions and then a bit of practice. There is no need to preregister for this afternoon program and it is open to the general public. However, participants will need to bring a chair and be willing to sit quietly for 30 minutes or more on a nearby hiking trail. This program will probably not be as suited for children, so we ask adults only.
For more information about the program, or for Friends of Tennessee NWR please contact the refuge office at 731-642-2091 or Joan_Howe@fws.gov.