MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. from September through May at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 869 Rte. 6A, in Brewster, MA. The door opens at 6:30 to provide time to socialize and pick up information.
Meetings are held at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Brewster. In addition, for those who cannot make it to the meeting, or prefer to remain at home, a zoom link will be posted close to the meeting date. Not all meetings will be on zoom.
PROGRAMS FOR 2025 – 2026
Sep 8, 2025
“Amazing Facts about Birds’ Lives that You Never Knew or Even Thought About” with Peter Trull
Link to Zoom Recording
We all love birds, we watch birds at our feeders, we hike to find birds with binoculars and camera. But who are these birds? Do we really watch birds? Is it breeding? Wintering? Migrating? Post breeding dispersal? Are you studying behavior? Are we sure at what we’re looking at? Does it really matter? Do we see or know how these birds are adapted to their specific lives? Come and learn things about birds you never knew, or things about birds you never thought of.
Oct 20, 2025 *** See Nov 20 ***
Nov 10, 2025
“Snowy Owls to Saw Whet Owls” with Norman Smith
Meeting not recorded due to copyright
Since 1981, Norman Smith has spent countless days and nights, in every imaginable weather condition, observing, capturing, banding and relocating Snowy Owls at Logan International Airport. Data has been collected on roosting, hunting and behavior while on their wintering grounds. Since 2000 satellite transmitters have been attached to owls to learn more about their movements. Find out what has been learned to date, what questions remain and how this project developed to include research on Saw-whet Owls.
Nov 20, 2025
“Current Updates on Massachusetts Bird Populations” with Wayne Petersen
Link to Zoom Recording
In 2019 Wayne was invited to speak to the Cape Cod Bird Club on the topic of Changes in Massachusetts Bird Populations. At the time he offered an avian timeline that began with the arrival of the Pilgrims in the 1620s. Many changes have taken place since the 1600s, but even since 2019 a number of changes and trends in bird populations are continuing to take place.
In this presentation he will describe some of the more recent and dramatic changes that are occurring today along with highlighting some of the factors responsible for these changes. Audience participation and questions will be welcomed.
Dec 8, 2025
CCBC MEMBERS-ONLY Holiday Party… 7-9:00 (Doors open at 6:30)
Link to Zoom Recording
Don’t miss Cape Cod Bird Club’s annual holiday party for members only!
Members’ Holiday Party featuring our teen Hog Island Scholarship recipients, Alex Russell & Ethan Seufert, sharing their experiences. Games, raffles, prizes, refreshments, and FUN!!
Jan 12, 2026
“Return to the Sky: A Bald Eagle Reintroduction Story” with Tina Morris
Link to Zoom Recording
As the bald eagle, our national symbol, was facing extinction in the continental U.S. in 1976, Tina Morris was beginning her graduate work at Cornell University. By luck and circumstance, she was selected to reintroduce the species into New York State in the hope that eagles could repopulate eastern North America. Young, female, with no experience, she faced the challenges of saving this iconic bird while striving for acceptance in the unfamiliar male-dominated world of raptor biology. Playing mother to seven eagles forced her to transcend the isolation of field research to rescue an endangered species while in turn rescuing herself.
Feb 9, 2026
“Speciation of Songbirds in North America” with James Paruk, Ph.D.
Meeting was not recorded due to copyright issues
As one drives across the United States from east to west something subtle happens to the species of birds you see along the way. Around Colorado, Stellar’s Jay replaces Blue Jay, Western Bluebird replaces Eastern Bluebird, Lazuli’s Bunting replaces Indigo Bunting, Western Tanagers replaces Scarlet Tanagers, and Bullock’s Oriole replaces Baltimore Oriole. What is the explanation behind this pattern and how long ago did it occur? Was our last major glaciation event responsible, or was it sooner?
Ever since Darwin, the topic of speciation, or how new species’ form, has been a hot topic for biologists to discuss and clarify. Due to modern advancements in genetic typing, our understanding of songbird speciation in North America is much clearer and fascinating.
Mar 9, 2026
“Colombia’s Avian Treasures” with Gina Beebe Nichol
Colombia’s bird life is nothing short of legendary. With nearly 1,970 species, it outshines every other country on Earth for sheer avian diversity. From jewel-bright tanagers to secretive antpittas, the country shelters somewhere between 80–95 endemics found nowhere else. And the discoveries keep coming! Security concerns kept Colombia closed for decades, but safety problems have significantly improved, and Colombia has become one of the top birding destinations in the world. This program will reveal the avian riches of Colombia, with vivid photographs of many of the colorful species found here.
Apr 13, 2026
“Icon of the Night: Conservation of the Eastern Whip-poor-will at Camp Edwards” with Jake McCumber
The Eastern Whip-poor-will is an energetic and iconic symbol of eastern woodlands and moonlit nights. They have experienced dramatic declines throughout most of their range, including Massachusetts, leaving dark woods quiet and lacking. However, active conservation efforts to restore woodland habitats and insect populations provide significant hope. Long-term monitoring and research at the Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Camp Edwards Training Site provide valuable insights. Ecosystem restoration efforts there are supporting a healthy and growing population of the Eastern Whip-poor-will. The talk will cover regional conservation, ecology, results of long-term monitoring and research, and the critical role forestry and fire play in recovering Whip-poor-will populations.
Jake McCumber is the Natural Resources and Training Lands Manager for the Massachusetts Army National Guard where he leads a team of dedicated conservation professionals. He has spent over twenty years as a conservation biologist specializing in mixed land use planning, endangered species management, and landscape scale restoration. Jake is particularly interested in birds, butterflies, moths, and the stewardship of remnant populations. He’s an enthusiastic voice for our pine barrens and their wildlife such as the Eastern Whip-poor-will.
May 11, 2026
“Birds Up Close: An Engineer Explores Their Hidden Wonders” with Lorna Gibson, PhD, of MIT
Birds Up Close: An Engineer Explores Their Hidden Wonders reveals the marvel of how birds work—from the tips of their beaks to the sheen of their tail feathers. Consider feathers: They define birds’ wings, enabling flight. They insulate against cold. They repel water. They even control sound. And how feathers work is just one aspect of the wonders of birds explained by MIT engineering professor and lifelong birder, Lorna Gibson, PhD, in Birds Up Close.
Feathers, bones, bills, eggs, flight: all come in for scrutiny in this engaging book. What produces the iridescence of plumage? How does the internal structure of a bird’s bones make them lightweight? How do different birds use their bills and tongues—from woodpeckers penetrating the holes they drill to hummingbirds imbibing nectar, to sandpipers needling the sand, and to phalaropes drawing water droplets containing plankton into their mouths without sucking (no lips!)? What controls the shape of eggs? How do birds fly?
Drawing on her expertise and personal experience in both engineering, and as a birder, Dr. Gibson explores how birds work by looking at their hidden microscopic structures, and using engineering principles. Her up-close look at avian mysteries provides a perspective like no other for birders, curious observers, as well as the expert ornithologist.
This talk describes selected topics from her book, which will be available for purchase at the meeting.
Lorna Gibson, PhD, is the Matoula S Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT’s top award for undergraduate teaching. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She has always loved nature and getting outside to walk, bicycle and bird.