September Program: Migratory Birds and the Importance of Shade Trees on Cacao Farms

Program description: Ecologist Vanessa Merritt will be sharing preliminary results from her research in Colombia on shade trees and birds in cacao farms. From September 2024 to May 2025, Vanessa worked with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and with a Colombian bird conservation non-profit, SELVA, to study 13 different native species of shade trees to understand which ones provide the most food resources for birds. In this talk, Vanessa will explain which shade tree species she found support the most bird species richness and abundance, with a special focus on our beloved migratory birds like American Redstarts, Cerulean Warblers, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos that she saw visiting the shade trees in cacao farms on a daily basis. She will also share stories of her time gathering data in the field and conducting workshops with smallholder cacao farmers.


Speaker Bio: Raleigh native Vanessa Merritt fell in love with birds when she was 14, and throughout high school and college she worked in the ornithology collections of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. After graduating from NC State University with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and a B.A. in International Studies, Vanessa started an administrative job at Rare, an Arlington-based non-profit that uses behavioral and natural science for conservation programs around the world. Once she had worked for a year and a half at Rare, Vanessa decided to pursue her true passion: fieldwork. She received grants from five organizations, including TGPAS, to conduct a 9-month ecological study of shade trees and birds in cacao farms of Colombia with a local-NGO called SELVA. Upon returning to the United States in June 2025, Vanessa is now analyzing and publishing her results and will be applying to PhD programs for the fall of 2026. When she's not working, you'll find Vanessa reading or birding.

The event is free and open to all. Programs begin at 7PM but come a little early and socialize with us.

Pictured: One of the migratory Yellow-billed Cuckoos you can find visiting the cacao farms in Colombia during the winter. Photo by Heather Russell.

You may also like the following events from T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society:

• Next Sunday, 14th September, 02:00 pm, Sunday Afternoon Nature Walk in Greensboro
• Next Sunday, 14th September, 02:00 pm, Big Sweep at the Audubon Natural Area in Greensboro
• This month, 21st September, 02:00 pm, Invasive Plant Workday at the Audubon Natural Area in Greensboro

Also check out other Workshops in Greensboro.