Arrowwood Virburnum

Fruits are an important dietary component for many songbirds during autumn migration. However, not all fruits are created equal in terms of their nutritional quality. Dr. Susan Smith Pagano will summarize her ongoing research on the nutritional properties of fruits from local native and exotic plants, and she will also discuss the importance of planting or maintaining appropriate fruiting shrubs in support of migrating birds.

Dr. Susan Smith Pagano is an Associate Professor of Biology at Rochester Institute for Technology. Dr. Pagano is a physiological ecologist who studies the dynamic relationships between fuel utilization, physiological condition and diet quality in migrating songbirds at stopover sites. Recent work has focused on an assessment of refueling physiology and diet in Catharus thrushes migrating through the Braddock Bay area, and outcomes of the work have been used to inform habitat management and conservation. In addition to her work at RIT, Dr. Pagano is a Research Associate affiliated with the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory and is Vice-President of the Board of Directors.  She is actively involved in professional service and serves on two journal Editorial Boards and is an elected Council member for the Wilson Ornithological Society.

Dr Susan Pagano