Public Meeting - More than just a backyard bird: unlocking the mysteries of American Robin migration
Speaker: Emily Williams

The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) may be the early bird that catches the worm, the archetypal backyard bird, and all that jazz - but it turns out there's still a lot to learn from this common bird. Beyond the facts that robins seem to be doing perfectly fine (they are increasing across much of their range), may be one of the most widely distributed songbirds on the North American continent, and they seem to be expanding their range, both northward and southward - robins are also an enigma when it comes to their migratory behavior. In turns out this “resident” or “short-distance migrant” is misunderstood and underestimated. To learn more about their migration and what robins can teach us, Georgetown University PhD student Emily Williams is embarking upon a multi-year, multi-state project to set the record straight about this overlooked bird.

Emily is a Florida native and grew up enjoying having Cape Canaveral “Playalinda” National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge as her backyard. After receiving degrees at the University of Florida and Kansas State University, Emily decided she had enough of the heat and moved to Alaska, where she worked at Denali National Park and Preserve for four and a half years. She then transitioned from the smallest town she’s ever lived to the biggest, settling in the nation’s capitol to pursue her doctorate. While she doesn’t miss the temperatures or bugs, Emily still holds dear the birds and BBQ of the southeast, which have no match anywhere else.

Attendees must be fully vaccinated and remain masked for the duration of the meeting