Date: 3/12/25 4:42 pm From: Sequoia Audubon Society via groups.io <office...> Subject: [SFBirds] Thurs. March 13 - Owlet Nightjars and Hoatzins - a taxonomical endgame
Tomorrow's Monthly Meeting Presentation: Owlet Nightjars and Hoatzins - a taxonomical endgame Robert Siegel, M.D., PhD This talk will focus on two fairly obscure but fascinating orders of birds: the Aegotheliformes and the Opisthocomiformes. After recent journeys to Northern Australia and the Ecuadorian rainforest, Dr. Siegel completed (the first draft of) his project to photograph every order of birds. Once again, this effort required fortuitous encounters with remarkable individuals and a whole lot of luck. I will also discuss the first iteration of my undergraduate class, 46 Orders of Birds. Key themes of the course include discussions of why and how we classify, taxonomic and nomenclatural challenges of bird classification, and how these themes can be generalized in myriad ways.
Owlet-nightjars are small crepuscular birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. Most are native to New Guinea, but some species extend to Australia, the Moluccas, and New Caledonia. Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owlet-nightjar )
The hoatzin or hoactzin is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owlet-nightjar )
*Dr. Siegel will provide insight into this cryptic topic while showing his excellent photos and is guaranteed to entertain us. Register: https://bit.ly/3ERC9zO*
