| PREVIOUS DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. April 4, 2023 Speaker: Dan Varland Topic: Turkey Vultures – Love at Second Sight! (linked to YouTube recording of Zoom presentation) |
Poster by Geof Hacker – see also DNS Posters Archive
Turkey Vultures are essential to the environment and beautiful in their own way. Dan will share facts on the natural history of the species, including distinguishing characteristics, related species, and behaviour, including movement patterns, roost sites and longevity as revealed by recent tagging studies.
Dan Varland is Executive Director of Coastal Raptors (coastalraptors.com), a Washington-based non-profit focused on research and education programs leading to conservation of birds of prey.
He earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Zoology from Eastern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. For 11 years Dan taught biology at community colleges in the Midwest.
Dan moved to Hoquiam, Washington in 1993 and worked until 2009 as wildlife biologist for the timber company Rayonier. Since 1995, Dan has been surveying and banding raptors on Washington’s coastal beaches.
In 2009, he founded and became the Executive Director of Coastal Raptors, a not-for-profit organization focused on research, education and conservation programs for raptors in coastal environments. In 2018, Dan was given the Exceptional Service Award by the Raptor Research Foundation for his volunteer service to the organization. Dan was co-editor of a book on raptors in human-altered landscapes and has co-authored 20 scientific publications and two book chapters.
Delta Naturalists Society 