About the Program: 

Colombia is one of the top birding destinations with over 1,900 species. John will give an overview of many of the top locations and rare and endemic birds from his recent tours. From Caribbean coast to pacific rainforest lowlands to the three ranges of the Andes and valleys in between and the Orinoco lowlands bordering Venezuela, he will illustrate the huge diversity with his photographs of fancy and exotic birds.

About the Presenter:

John has been a hard-core birder in California since he was shown a Pileated Woodpecker in 5th grade camp in 1971. He is a professional ornithologist and has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service research stations, HT Harvey & Associates, Arizona and Oregon state universities among other organizations since 1981. John has traveled extensively throughout California learning about local bird distribution and is an authority on that state’s avifauna. In 2015 he set the California's new big year record with 501 species and has many big day records as well.

He has traveled internationally as a guide and ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, The Philippines, Sumatra, Canada and Russia. John currently has his own company, Sterling Wildlife Biology (www.sterlingbirds.com), specializing in tours, birding classes, research and environmental consulting for The Nature Conservancy, the Kern Water Bank, the California Rice Commission, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Audubon’s International Alliance Program, CA Dept. of Water Resources among other organizations.