Yolo Bird Alliance

Speaker Presentation - The Origin and Growth of the Birdwatching Club at UC Davis
2026-04-15 19:00 - 20:50 (America/Los_Angeles)
UCD Birdwatching Club, 2026 ©Grace Bottomley
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The public is invited to join the Yolo Bird Alliance at its monthly general meeting on April 15, 2026, featuring guest-speaker Zane Pickus. He will present about the origin and growth of the Birdwatching Club at UC Davis, a student-run organization that brings together those with a passion for birding and the outdoors. The club has grown significantly since its inception in 2021, and now includes hundreds of members of diverse backgrounds, all brought together through a shared love of birds and birding. The Birdwatching Club hosts dozens of field trips and presentations each year, all of which are free and open to anyone on campus. Through collaborations with other on-campus clubs, the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, and faculty in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, the Birdwatching Club provides opportunities for students to get involved in birding and wildlife conservation on the UC Davis campus and beyond. Prepare to celebrate five successful years of the Birdwatching Club and excitedly look forward to continued growth in the future.
Zane will speak, in-person, at the Davis Senior Center at 646 A Street in Davis on April 15, 2026. Additionally, this meeting will be on Zoom; instructions for joining via Zoom, follow. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and ends at 8:50 (8:30 Zoom) p.m. People attending in-person are welcome to mingle following the conclusion of the Q&A portion, until 8:50.
SPEAKER BIO
Zane Pickus, a member of the Yolo Bird Alliance’s Board of Directors, is an undergraduate at UC Davis studying Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology. Zane has been interested in birds his entire life, and as he has gotten older, that interest has morphed into a passion. He values the opportunity to teach others through field trips and presentations, appreciating the sense of community found in sharing birds with others. Zane is president of the Birdwatching Club at UC Davis, a regional reviewer for eBird in Yolo County, and a regional coordinator for the California Bird Atlas.
This event is free, and you do not need to be a member of Yolo Bird Alliance. But if you would like to join, visit https://yoloaudubon.org/join-renew-donate/.
The Yolo Bird Alliance fosters an appreciation of birds and other wildlife through educational programs and field trips, brings conservation issues to public awareness, and acts to preserve Yolo County bird life and habitat. To learn more about the Yolo Bird Alliance, visit its web page at https://yolobirdalliance.org/. You can also visit the Yolo Bird Alliance on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/YoloBirdAlliance. If you would like to join and receive the monthly newsletter, visit https://yolobirdalliance.org/join-renew-donate/.
The meeting will be held in person at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A St, Davis, CA 95616.
Or, Register to Attend the Meeting online via Zoom. Zoom participants will be admitted a few minutes before 7:00 pm.
Click here for the Zoom registration link, or you can copy & paste this link in your browser – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Hmws4hOfSqu1IJ_hTB9yTg
Please note: Participants may join the meeting from the Zoom desktop client downloaded on their computer or on their Apple or Android mobile phone or tablet to access the meeting. Participants may also join from a browser (Visit https://bit.ly/3hNyP8h to learn how to join a Zoom meeting).
You may email Yolo Bird Alliance Program Chair Ken Ealy before the meeting if you need assistance.

Speaker Presentation - Mechanisms of Hummingbird Aggression
2026-05-20 19:00 - 20:50
Rufous Hummingbird ©Tom Uslan
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Hummingbirds look delicate, bright and inspiring, but contrary to popular beliefs, they are extremely aggressive animals that fight to defend territories and access mates. The public is invited to the Yolo Bird Alliance’s at its last monthly general meeting of the season on May 20, 2026, featuring Paulina L. González-Gómez. In this talk, Paulina will focus on her research which explores the biological mechanisms behind male aggression, from behavior to physiology. Male hummingbirds often use specialized “bill daggers” – sharp tips on their beaks – to attack rivals during high-speed chases. Their research studies how behavior and traits such as wing size and body mass influence birds’ territorial defense. In addition, they investigate the role of hormones like testosterone in the development of bill weapons. They aim to learn how traits interact by linking field observations with hormone and morphology data. Our work is developed in tropical and temperate environments to understand how competition shapes evolution and behavior in one of the most extreme groups of birds.
Paulina will present, “Mechanisms of Hummingbird Aggression”, in-person at the Davis Senior Center located at 646 A Street in Davis on May 20, 2026. Additionally, this meeting will be on Zoom; instructions for joining via Zoom, follow. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and ends at 8:50 (8:30 Zoom) p.m. People attending in-person are welcome to mingle following the conclusion of the Q&A portion, until 8:50.
SPEAKER BIO
Paulina L. González-Gómez is an integrative biologist and evolutionary ecologist specializing in hummingbird biology and avian physiology. Her research focuses on how animals cope with environmental variability over the course of the year. She uses hummingbirds as a model system to study adaptive timing, energetic balance, and the coordination of life-history stages such as migration, breeding, and molt. At the University of California, Davis, Paulina teaches ecophysiology and scientific writing, mentoring students in both field biology and effective science communication.
This event is free, and you do not need to be a member of Yolo Bird Alliance. But if you would like to join, visit https://yoloaudubon.org/join-renew-donate/.
The Yolo Bird Alliance fosters an appreciation of birds and other wildlife through educational programs and field trips, brings conservation issues to public awareness, and acts to preserve Yolo County bird life and habitat. To learn more about the Yolo Bird Alliance, visit its web page at https://yolobirdalliance.org/. You can also visit the Yolo Bird Alliance on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/YoloBirdAlliance. If you would like to join and receive the monthly newsletter, visit https://yolobirdalliance.org/join-renew-donate/.
The meeting will be held in person at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A St, Davis, CA 95616.
Or, Register to Attend the Meeting online via Zoom. Zoom participants will be admitted a few minutes before 7:00 pm.
Click here for the Zoom registration link, or you can copy & paste this link in your browser – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QRaKu8I2TG-NB74t5bok4A
Please note: Participants may join the meeting from the Zoom desktop client downloaded on their computer or on their Apple or Android mobile phone or tablet to access the meeting. Participants may also join from a browser (Visit https://bit.ly/3hNyP8h to learn how to join a Zoom meeting).
You may email Yolo Bird Alliance Program Chair Ken Ealy before the meeting if you need assistance.
