Join the ABC Club for a very special night featuring: “New Guinea’s Lost Worlds and Elusive Birds of Paradise,” with Bruce Beehler, Naturalist and Explorer, on Thursday, November 5, 2015, from 6:45 to 8:45 PM, at Thompson Hall, University of Puget Sound. $10. Preregistration is requested so we can obtain the appropriate lecture hall. Contact Diane Yorgason-Quinn at Avosetta@hotmail.com.

In this popular lecture illustrated with still and video images, Smithsonian naturalist Bruce Beehler describes his nearly four decades of field study of the birds and rainforests of the great island of New Guinea. The presentation will feature a review of the remarkable diversity of the birdlife inhabiting New Guinea, as well as a focused look at the Birds of Paradise and the amazing plumages and behaviors of the various species in this unique bird family.

In addition, the presentation will take the audience on a field expedition to the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea, perhaps the most isolated and untouched place on planet earth. The scientists on the expedition risked their lives and suffered various hardships, but came away with more than a hundred species of plants and animals new to science. These include some of the most bizarre creatures on earth, a “lost” Bird of Paradise, a Golden-maned Bowerbird unique to this tiny mountain range, a Wattled Honeyeater-bird that blushes when upset, an egg-laying spiny mammal without teeth, and a scary five-pound giant rat.

Beehler’s bio reads like a modern-day biologist Indiana Jones. He 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 is focused on research and writing about nature and natural history. Beehler has spent much of his scientific career studying and working to conserve birds and their forest habitats. After conducting doctoral fieldwork in Papula New Guinea, Beehler worked for ten years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, followed by stints at the Wildlife Conservation Socity, U.S. Department of State, Counterpart International, Conservation International, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Beehler is an elective Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union and has served on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy, RARE, and the Livingston-Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. In addition, Beehler served for three years as Chair of American Bird Conservancy’s Policy Council (predecessor to the Bird Conservation Alliance). Beehler has published ten books and authored scores of technical and popular articles about birds and nature. In 2007, Beehler was featured in a Sixty 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. Today Beehler carries out natural history exploration and field research focused mainly on wildlife and natural places in the USA.

Besides the Sixty Minutes profile, Beehler was also featured on the northwest’s own Birdnote recently. Read about it here: http://birdnote.org/show/north-spring-migration

We are eagerly awaiting this glimpse into another world and its fantastical bird life through the eyes of this scientist-adventurer.

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