March 19 – Birds and Fire by Kristina Smucker.
Kristina Smucker will take us on a virtual tour through burned forests to discover how the bird community changes following restorative wildfires. Birds are amazing for many reasons, one of which is the diversity of habitat niches they have laid claim to, including burned forests. Many bird species depend on high severity wildfires, like those Montana experienced last summer, to create the habitat and food resources they need to survive. Kristina Smuker is a wildlife biologist for Montana FWP Great Falls and has extensively studied the impact of wildfires on bird habitat.