Guest Speakers at Bird Symposium February 23/2008
Dr. Stuart Houston to speak at Symposium
By Kathy Morrell
In flight, the turkey vulture is beautiful as it weaves an intricate pattern of grace against the blue of a clear summer sky. Close up, however, the bird loses some of its attraction. Its red head is devoid of feathers – the better to avoid the accumulation of decaying flesh on which it feeds. Indeed, the turkey vulture stinks. It has no hesitation in consuming the carcasses of skunks. Not only does it eat carrion found along our roads and throughout areas in and adjacent to the Parkland, the bird has another malodorous practice. It defecates on its own legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces to cool itself down.
However, Dr. Stuart Houston, avid Saskatchewan birder, claims the bird has its own particular fascination, a claim based on his years of study. His presentation at the 2008 Birding Symposium will focus on the turkey vulture and new and innovative research based on the installation of wing-tags and of satellite transmitters on nestlings.
Doctor Stuart Houston has roots that trace back to this area. His father, Dr. C. J. Houston, practised medicine in Yorkton. Stuart graduated from the Yorkton Collegiate Institute in 1945, graduated in 1951 with a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Manitoba and set up practice in Yorkton. After the completion of studies in radiology at the University of Saskatchewan and Harvard, he joined the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at the University Hospital in Saskatoon. Houston reached the rank of professor in 1969. He retired in 1996.
In his life outside the field of medicine, Houston has become a recognized authority in the birds of central North America. He has been a council member and Vice-President of the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU), a Fellow of the AOU since 1989, and a recipient of the AOU’s Marion Jenkinson AOU Service Award in 2004.
His publications in Medicine and Natural History include 11 books, 55 book chapters, 338 papers, and 198 book reviews. He received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1992. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993.
Dr. Stuart Houston is a member of the Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association. We welcome him as a featured presenter at the 2008 Birding Symposium.
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Lynn Oliphant will be one of the speakers at the symposium. He has provided us with a summary of his presentation and a biography.
A FASCINATION WITH FALCONS
Birds of prey have long held a fascination for mankind because of their powers of flight and ability to capture quarry as large or even larger than themselves. The falcons especially have been held in high esteem throughout the ages due to their spectacular ways of hunting from a position high above their quarry and the speed of their dive (called a "stoop") which can exceed 300 km per hour. We will explore the various species common to North America, comparing them to other raptors in terms of their ecology and behaviour, and examine their use as trained hunting birds in the sport of falconry. The recent history of the decline and recovery of the Peregrine will also be discussed from the standpoint of its lessons for the management of endangered species.
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
Lynn Oliphant is a retired professor of Veterinary Anatomy from the University of Saskatchewan where he taught classes in microscopic anatomy as well as ecology through the Biology department. He has had a long time interest in birds of prey and led a long term study of Merlins as well as heading up a project for the captive breeding and reintroduction of the Peregrine Falcon. He currently resides east of Saskatoon in a self-built strawbale house with his wife, Rhonda and several carnivorous animals, and is attempting to define a sustainable way of living in the northern prairies.