12/10/2025- 6 pm – Presentation: “Bird-Brained: Bird Intelligence and Behaviors”

Umpqua Valley Audubon and the Roseburg Public Library present

An Educational Presentation:

“Bird-Brained: Bird Intelligence and Behaviors”

By ornithologist Dan Gleason

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at 6 pm

It is free to the public.

Two ways to join us!

#1: Dan Gleason will visit virtually on Zoom and attendees are invited to participate in person at the Roseburg Public library in the Ford room.

#2: Watch it online on FacebookLive@roseburgpubliclibrary. (No Facebook account is required.)

Have you ever been called bird-brained? It was likely intended as an insult, but perhaps, after this lecture, you might say thank you in reply! The assumption is that birds are of low intelligence because most birds are small and have small brains. But there is a lot packed into those small skulls and brains.

In this program, we will look at a variety of behaviors that demonstrate the intelligence of birds, and we’ll consider some of the differences between intelligence and instinct. Watch the crows and jays in your yard, and you may be surprised at some of the clever things they do!

Dan Gleason taught on the faculty at the University of Oregon for more than 30 years and continued teaching Field Ornithology even after retiring. He is the author of two books about birds, and his “Register Guard” column, “Backyard Habitats,” ran monthly for more than 10 years in the mid-2000s. Since 2013, Gleason and his wife, Barbara, have operated the two Wild Birds Unlimited stores in Eugene.