…….from the Mexican Border to the Arctic Ocean
As SIB members and followers, we get to hear so many great speakers and live extemporaneously through their eyes, enjoying birding experiences we are likely never to have. As I think about this upcoming program, it brings back memories of my first SIB program, when Scott Weidensaul, via Zoom, presented his book titled “A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds.” When I look at Mr. Beehler’s history, we have the opportunity to again be spell bounded and amazed by all he has learned from his vast experience and global travel. We are very fortunate having him here in person.
Beehler has published seventeen books and monographs and authored scores of technical and popular articles about birds and nature. In 2007, Beehler was featured in a 60-Minutes piece highlighting an expedition he led to the Foja Mountains in the interior of New Guinea in which scores of new species of plants and animals were discovered.
Dr. Bruce Beehler is a Renowned Ornithologist and a broadly Published Author with a wealth of experiences to share.
Speaker: Bruce Beehler
Research Associate, Bird Division, National Museum of Natural History, and Scientific Affiliate, American Bird Conservancy.
Date: Monday April 7, 2025, 7:00 pm
Location: Lake House Live Oak Hall
Admission: Free to SIB Members, $15 to Join SIB, $10 Guest Fee, or $5 for SIPC Members
(*Join SIB or renew membership for 2025 :
https://seabrookislandbirders.org/join-sib/ )
- 7:00 pm Registration & Refreshments
- 7:30 pm Program
- 8:45 pm Program ends
Program Description
Between 2019 and 2022, the speaker completed five field trips in search of Hudsonian Godwits. Beehler visited stop-over sites through the Great Plains; visited breeding habitat in western Alaska, Churchill, Manitoba, and the High Arctic of western Canada; and did field surveys at a famous autumn staging site in James Bay. In all, Beehler traveled solo by car more than 30,000 miles, encountering Hudsonian Godwits in 10 states and provinces.
He also spent time with Marbled and Bar-tailed Godwits, and 33 additional shorebird species. Moreover, Beehler accompanied various shorebird fieldworkers as they studied godwits and other species in remote and iconic field sites.
In this illustrated lecture, Beehler will recount the highlights of his more than five months in the field, from Nome and Point Barrow to Tuktoyaktuk, Moosonee, and Monomoy Island.
Speaker Bio:
Bruce Beehler is an ornithologist, conservationist, and naturalist. He is currently a Research Associate in the Division of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and a Scientific Affiliate of the American Bird Conservancy.
Beehler has spent much of his scientific career studying and conserving birds and their forest habitats. After conducting doctoral fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, Beehler worked for ten years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, followed by stints at the Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S. Department of State, Conservation International, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
Beehler is an elective Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and has served on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and RARE. Currently, Beehler serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Rainforest Trust. He is book reviews editor for the Wilson Journal of Ornithology and associate editor for the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club.
In 2016 Beehler received the Bicentennial Medal from Williams College for his conservation work in the Pacific. In 2021, Beehler was awarded the Elliott Coues Medal from the American Ornithological Society recognizing lifetime contribution to the field.
Today, Beehler carries out natural history studies and writing focused on wildlife and natural places in North America.
Recent (and coming) books
Beehler, B.M. 2025 Flight of the Godwit: Tracking Epic Shorebird Migrations Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC, 272 pages (issue date: 15 April 2025)
Beehler, B.M. 2024. Birds of North America: A Photographic Atlas. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 540 pages. (issue date: 5 April 2024)
Beehler, B.M. 2020. New Guinea: Nature and Culture of the Earth’s Grandest Island. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 375 pages.
Beehler, B.M. 2019. Natural Encounters: Biking, Hiking, and Birding Through the Seasons. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. 271 pages.
Beehler, B.M. 2019. Birds of Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 452 pages.
Beehler, B. M. 2018. North on the Wing—Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring. Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC.
Beehler, B.M., and T.K. Pratt. 2016. Birds of New Guinea: Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 668 pages.
Questions? Email us at: SIB Shorebird Stewards sibstewards@gmail.com