01/17/2001

Lecture About East Tennessee Birds Draws Crowd To Tusculum

Don Miller explaining the ins and outs of ornithology

GREENEVILLE, TN -- More than 50 people attended a Tuesday evening lecture and visual presentation about the bird life of East Tennessee, presented at Tusculum College as another installment in the Acts, Arts, Academia, and All that Stuff lecture and performance series.

Don Miller, president of the Greeneville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, entitled his presentation "It's for the Birds." Attending were members of the Tusculum College faculty, staff and student body, as well as many avid bird watchers from the local area. Judy Henry, wife of Tusculum College's President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and introducing Miller.

Miller began his lecture by sharing with the audience one of the major influences in his life: the famous " Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." The program inspired him to be curious about various aspects of many animals, including birds, Miller said. The speaker said that, while he was growing up, he often would stand in awe of what he would find just outside his back door. Although he didn't always know what he was looking at, he "loved it anyway," he said.

The focus of the evening's lecture was the migration of birds, specifically of those which most often appear during the spring months in East Tennessee. The group was provided with a list of 30 birds, all of which were portrayed and discussed during a slide presentation. Miller explained that birds migrate during the colder months because of the lack of both food supply and nesting grounds. Once they arrive in a more tropical climate, these needs are met through readily available fruits and nuts and dense forest and underbrush in which they can safely live. The advantages to migrating outweigh the risk of extensive travel by these birds, most of which migrate at night since cooler temperatures keep their body heat in check while they fly hundreds of miles over short periods of time. There are a few birds, however, which do migrate during the day, Miller said.

He explained that birds know when to begin migration through various means including physiological changes and the arrival of shorter days and cooler temperatures. The birds most widely know to the East Tennessee area migrate to Central or South America during the cooler months, then return early to mid-spring. Miller said that this year East Tennesseans should "expect a full-blown migration around April 10." He also noted that some birds travel up to 2,000 miles, with some known to fly at the rate of 70 miles per hour and span the Gulf of Mexico without stopping once.

Miller also explained the difference between a bird song and a bird call, and performed a few of them throughout the slide presentation. The song is used primarily to signify territorial rights as well a bonding methods male birds use for their female partners. The bird call, on the other hand, is routine communication among birds. Many of the birds discussed throughout the evening can be found in the Kinser Park area, Cherokee National Forest, near the Nolichuckey River, and outside the back door of most Greeneville-Greene Countians, Miller said.

An East Tennessee area of interest to avid bird watchers is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has been named an International Biosphere Reserve, Miller pointed out. Several new species of animals are being discovered, and the birds which live in this reserve are being inventoried and tracked. Miller noted that the frequently heard bird producing a beautiful melody in tones that sound like a pipe or flute is the wood thrush, a beautiful brown bird with a white brown-spotted underside. Unfortunately, this bird is in serious decline due to the amount of forest lost in the United States yearly, he said.

The next event in Tusculum College's Acts, Arts, Academia and All That Stuff will take place at 7 p.m. January 25 in the Annie Hogan Byrd Auditorium, where "The Mystical Arts of Tibet" will take place, featuring the multiphonic singers of Drepung Loseling Monastery. Donations, which will serve as admission to the event, will go to aid Tibetan refugees. For more information, call Tusculum's Art Outreach program at 423-798-1620 or e-mail mdubrisk@tusculum.edu.

Acts, Arts, Academia and All That Stuff is supported by Dr. Sam and Mary Agnes Miller, the Society of Cicero, Campus Life, and Arts Outreach.