Several years ago Dr. Noah Perlut (UNE) noticed that Herring Gulls were nesting on building ledges and rooftops in downtown Portland – including on the roof of PPL’s Downtown Library! – rather than on their traditional island nesting-grounds. He also noticed that the Gulf of Maine population of this seemingly-common species was declining by approximately 5% annually. Perlut and his students from the University of New England have been monitoring the Portland gull colonies to understand the costs and benefits of big city life, understand local movement and migratory patterns by these birds, and identify if the birds hatched on Portland roof-tops return to them to breed. 

WHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
TIME: 5:30 – 7:00pm
VIRTUAL EVENT: Click here for details

Guest Speaker:

Dr. Noah Perlut, professor of Biology at the University of New England, traces the beginning of his career back to a single experience trout fishing in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Around the same time, at his undergraduate department’s award party at James Madison University, he received the prestigious “Most Likely to Have a Wildlife TV Show” award. The path that led him from trout to ornithology also led through an MA in Environmental Conservation Education at NYU, a PhD in Natural Resources and post-doctoral work at the University of Vermont, and fieldwork throughout North and Central America, the Caribbean, and Hawaii.