Location: San Leandro Library, 300 Estudillo Ave, San Leandro, CA 94577

Come to learn all about molt patterns in birds from the author who wrote a reference guide and numerous papers on this subject. Peter Pyle will clarify the tangled historical terminology and presenting the vastly improved H-P system in lay-person terms, considering the interactions between bird molt and plumage color, illustrating the fascinating molt patterns of ducks, ptarmigan, alcids, herons, raptors, parrots, passerines, and larger birds that undergo Stafflemauser, and concluding with some thoughts on stable isotopes and molt, molt in tropical birds, and avenues for future research, all based on years of working with the subject and the examination of over 60,000 specimens in museum skin collections. We will also cover the topic of ageing birds in the field according to molt limits and other molt-related clues. Peter encourages participants to bring specific questions they have on molt in general or in specific taxa.

Peter Pyle is an ornithologist and marine biologist. During the late 1970s and early 1980s he partook in the Hawaii, Micronesia, and Samoa Forest Bird Surveys. From the early 1980s through the early 2000s much of his research was conducted on birds and white sharks at the Farallon Islands, California. He has developed a special interest in bird molt and how it can be used to age birds, and has published many papers and taught many workshops on this subject in North and Latin America. Among bird banders, he is best known for his Identification Guides summarizing molt, ageing, and sexing information for North American birds in the hand. He is a Research Associate both at the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, and the B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu. To date, he has authored over 120 papers in scientific journals and three books, and has been a co-author on over 70 additional scientific papers and an on-line monograph on the birds of Hawaii. He currently works for the Institute for BirdPopulations in Point Reyes Station, California.