“The Mystery of Migration” By Bill Volkert (In-person)

One of the most fascinating aspects of the lives of birds is their ability to migrate thousands of miles as they follow the changing seasons.  This presentation will explore the annual migration of birds, their seasonal phenology, and explore recent studies that are revealing more information and instilling greater wonder over the phenomenon of bird migration.

Birds not only come and go with the seasons but they do so in the same order every year.  This program will provide an insight into why birds migrate and the orderly succession of species that arrive in Wisconsin each spring.

Bill Volkert worked as the naturalist and wildlife educator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at Horicon Marsh for 27 years, where he conducted more than 3,700 education programs for over 220,000 people. His broad audience included professional training for 66 delegations of scientists from 43 countries. He has worked professionally in 5 foreign countries and throughout his career has presented well over 4,000 public programs. ​Bill has been watching and studying birds for 50 years and in his travels has sighted more than 4,450 species. To facilitate his studies, he is also a federally licensed master bird bander, with the Bird Banding Laboratory of the U.S. Geological Survey.