Our guest speaker will be Justin Mann.  Migratory songbirds can collect information about their environment or they can utilize social cues from other individuals to assess the quality of a habitat. To examine how migratory songbirds are influenced by social information, black-and-white warbler songs were broadcast at study sites where that species had not been observed during baseline bird surveys. Experiments were conducted in both low and high quality habitats. We will discuss how social information influences habitat selection in songbirds and what that could mean for attracting species back to restored habitats.

Justin Mann grew up in the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania. At a young age his parents introduced him to the joys of birdwatching, a hobby which quickly developed into a passion. Justin is currently a PhD student in the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior program in the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University, where he is studying the behavioral ecology of birdsong. He lives in Endwell, New York with his wife and three children.