Birmingham Audubon Society

January Program and Meeting

"The Ratites and Podocarps of Aotearoa or Flightless Birds and Unique Plants of New Zealand"
Presented by Ellen W. McLaughlin, Professor Emeritus
Department of Biology, Samford University

January 17, 2013
7:00 P.M. 
Birmingham Zoo Auditorium

New Zealand, "the land of the long, white cloud," is home to many species of animals and plants found nowhere else in the world. Among these are two prominent flightless birds, the living Kiwi and the extinct Moa. This program will describe the adaptations made by these birds to a flightless existence including skeletal changes, habitat preference, food procurement, reproduction and ecology.

In addition to the aforementioned birds, New Zealand is also home to giant tree ferns and the great podocarp forests. These forests which are composed of endemic lichens and mosses and two primarily Southern hemisphere dwelling plant families, Podocarpaceae and Auriacariaceae, will also be touched on during this program. Some of the trees in these forests rival the eucalyptus and the redwoods as the largest in the world.

Ellen McLaughlin is a retired Professor emeritus from the Biology Department at Samford University. Her extensive travels include trips to New Zealand, China, Mongolia and the Middle East (Israel and Jordan). She currently teaches the following one day courses for beginner naturalists offered through the Samford After Sundown continuing education program: "The Forest Floor", "Tree Bark Biota and Identification", "Use of the Microscope", "Insects", "Aquatic Biology", "Wildflowers" and "Beginning Birding".