The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust will host an online discussion Thursday, July 9, at 6 p.m. on the relationship between climate change, the migration of songbirds, and shifts in the practices of hay farmers.

Maeve McGowan holds a Savannah Sparrow while doing field work in Vermont. Contributed photo via Maeve McGowan

Land trust Development Coordinator Maeve McGowan and the University of New England’s Noah Perlut will discuss the migration of grassland songbirds, Bobolinks and Savannah sparrows, in the context of a changing climate and a working agricultural landscape.

Maeve is a recent graduate from the University of New England where she studied environmental science and researched migratory birds and climate change. With her research project, she set out to understand the response of Bobolinks, a long-distance migrant, and Savannah sparrows, a short-distance migrant, to climate-induced phenological changes.

Noah Perlut is the Environmental Studies Department Chairperson and Associate Professor at the University of New England. He has been studying breeding populations of Bobolinks and Savannah sparrows in Shelburne, Vermont for nearly 20 years. Since 2002, Perlut and his team of research assistants have been gathering data on these breeding populations.

Registrants will receive a Zoom link to the web-based lecture following their registration and again before the event. For more information or to register, visit www.kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events/grasslandbirds2020 or call (207) 442-8400. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions in the registration link and the chat box during the meeting.