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Alliance Afternoon: Searching for Lost Birds with John Mittermeier, January 25th

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Image: Imperial woodpecker This media file is in the public domain in the United States.

Sunday, January 25, 2026
2:30 PM 4:30 PM

Free

National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive Ste. 100
RestonUnited States (map)

For more presentation details and registration information please click here!

Join this presentation on Sunday, January 25th at 2:30pm for the first Alliance Afternoon of 2026! At this quarterly chapter meeting, guests will gather in the cafeteria of the National Wildlife Federation Building to mingle with other bird-lovers while enjoying snacks and drinks. Attendees are also welcome to bring additional food or beverages to share.

NVBA staff and the Board of Directors will kick off the meeting by conducting chapter business, followed by celebrations of the 2025 Christmas Bird Count and the 2026 Photo Contest Calendar. The agenda will then move into a discussion of upcoming advocacy opportunities and other chapter updates. The featured presentation will be given by guest speaker, John Mittermeier of the American Bird Conservancy, who will speak on the Search for Lost Birds. The presentation will conclude with time for audience questions before the wrap up of this quarter’s meeting around 4:30 p.m. Following the meeting, guests are welcome to stay for NVBA’s Volunteer Recruitment Fair, where NVBA staff and committee chairs will highlight upcoming volunteer opportunities for participants to explore and consider joining.

The quarterly chapter meetings are open to both NVBA members and the general public. Anyone interested in the birds of northern Virginia is welcome! This event is free, and registration is not required; however, those who RSVP will receive reminder messages.

Presentation on Searching for Lost Birds

Around the world, just over 100 species of birds are currently considered “lost” meaning that they are not considered extinct but that no one has been able to document them in the past decade or more. What are these lost birds and why can’t anyone find them? Do they matter for conservation? Join John C. Mittermeier, the Director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy, to answer these questions and hear stories about the efforts to rediscover some of these mysterious species.

About John C. Mittermeier:

John C. Mittermeier, PhD, is the Director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy where he helps support projects to look for lost bird species around the globe. Prior to joining American Bird Conservancy in 2020, he received a PhD in biodiversity conservation from the University of Oxford and has conducted ornithological research and fieldwork in Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, and the Solomon Islands, among other places. Click here to learn more about The Search for Lost Birds.

Audubon Afternoon on September 24: The Story of Kirtland’s Warbler with Nathan Cooper

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Photo: Nathan Cooper

Sunday, September 24, 2023
2:30 – 4:30 PM

National Wildlife Federation Building 
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
Reston, VA 20190

Fee: FREE

Mark your calendar now for the next Audubon Afternoon on September 24. After catching up with your ASNV friends, you will enjoy a presentation by the Smithsonian’s Nathan Cooper. He will discuss his research on North America’s rarest songbird, the Kirtland’s Warbler. Over the past few decades, Kirtland’s Warblers have undergone a remarkable recovery, from just 167 males in the world in 1987 to more than 2,200 males today. In addition to having a compelling conservation story, its small population size and restricted breeding and winter ranges provide an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating and interconnected annual cycles of songbirds. Cooper will take the attendees on a journey through the annual cycle of the Kirtland’s Warbler and share what we have learned from this rare species. FREE! No registration required, but you may wish to register to get an email reminder of the event.

Join your friends on Sunday afternoon for this quarterly live Audubon Afternoon at the National Wildlife Federation Building, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive in Reston.

There will be an informal gathering starting at 2:30 so you have an opportunity to reconnect with everyone. Please feel free to bring any food and drink you would like to share with everyone during the informal portion of the program. At 3:00 PM, we’ll have a presentation by the Smithsonian’s Nathan Cooper.

Nathan Cooper is a behavioral ecologist and conservation biologist. He studies how migratory birds interact with each other and their environments throughout the annual cycle. He is primarily focused on the ecology and conservation of the Kirtland’s Warbler, and is currently involved in several science- and conservation-based projects with this recently delisted species. Cooper earned a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Biology from Portland State University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University. He first joined the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center as a Ph.D. student in 2008, and was awarded both Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships there, before being promoted to Research Ecologist in 2020.

Registration is not required, please bring friends, family, neighbors, etc!

REGISTER

 

Audubon Afternoon with Forensic Ornithologist Carla Dove, January 22, 2023

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Photo: Carla Dove

Sunday, January 22, 2023
2:30 – 4:30 pm
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Ste. 100, Reston
Register here.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia for their semi-annual live Audubon Afternoon.

They’ll gather informally starting at 2:30 so you have the opportunity to reconnect with everyone. They welcome any food and drink you would like to share during the informal portion of the program. At 3 PM, they’ll have a presentation by Forensic Ornithologist Dr. Carla Dove, a scientist with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Carla does specialized research in the microscopic identification of feathers. Her current research involves establishing techniques in this newly developing field within Ornithology, which applies forensic methodologies to determine species of birds from fragmentary evidence using microscopy, whole feather comparisons with museum specimens and DNA “barcoding.”

The Audubon Afternoon is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Registration is requested, so they have an idea of how many people will attend but is not required.