Birds Flocking to the Shores of Lake Erie

Saturday is a big day for thoroughbred horse racing fans with the Kentucky Derby scheduled for 6 o’clock this evening. But, it’s a huge weekend for birders in Michigan and Ohio as well. It’s called the “Biggest Week”, a celebration and opportunity for birders to watch thousands of birds and dozens of species move across Lake Erie to points north. The event brings 50,000 or more birders from across the world to the shores of Lake Erie at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, east of Toledo. President of the American Bird Conservancy, Michael Parr tells WDET’s Amy Miller more about the “Biggest Week” and how amateur birders can participate.

Click on the audio link above to hear the conversation

Mike Parr is President of American Bird Conservancy. He joined ABC in 1996 after graduating from University of East Anglia, UK, and working for BirdLife International. He has authored three books: Parrots – A Guide to the Parrots of the World, Important Bird Areas in the United States, and The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation, along with numerous articles and papers. He is Chair of the Alliance for Zero Extinction, a global initiative to fight species extinction, and sits on several conservation-related boards. Now a proud U.S. citizen, Mike is married, has three boys and lives in Washington, DC.

Author

Amy Miller
Amy has been working in public and commercial radio for the last 30 yrs. She is an award winning reporter and news anchor, born and raised in Detroit.
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