Name: Avian Acorn Herbivory in a Midwestern Oak Savanna
Start: 2025-03-01T17:00:00-0600
End: 2025-03-01T18:00:00-0600

The Wild Things Conference Returns Saturday, March 1, 2025 - SOLD OUT

We’re thrilled to welcome you again to learn and share your expertise with our community. We’ve put together an exciting lineup of workshops and sessions from regional and national experts, plus meet & greets, video content, exhibitors, and sponsors. With over 140 presentations and discussion panels to choose from, the in-person program engages a diverse range of topics, research, and skills, and plenty of opportunities to meet with friends, old and new.

Thank you as well to our sponsors, scholarship supporters, and exhibitors who are all helping to make this another tremendously successful Wild Things.

Tickets for Wild Things 2025 are sold out. For additional information on the 2025 conference, visit wildthingscommunity.org.

**PLEASE NOTE: Some details are subject to change.**

NOTICE: Please be advised that photos and videos will be taken during Wild Things 2025. By attending, you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your attendance on this event constitutes your agreement to the use of any resulting media by Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves for promotional, marketing, or any other purpose in perpetuity, without further approval or any compensation.

Saturday March 1, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm CST

Rooms 21-23 & 32-34

Acorns support several bird species in sand savannas in the Chicago region, yet little is known about what oak species are of greatest importance to avian herbivores. At six savanna sites in Pembroke, IL we used motion cameras to monitor trays containing the three species most common at these sites (black, white, and pin oak). Data were collected in the fall, winter, and spring of 2023-24. While two acorn specialists, red-headed woodpeckers and blue jays, were abundant, blue jays alone visited the trays and overwhelmingly selected pin oaks. Understanding acorn preferences can enable more informed management decisions for wildlife in midwestern savannas.

Presenters

Paige Terpstra

Derek Rosenberger

Associate Professor of Conservation Biology, Wheaton College

Dr. Derek Rosenberger is a Conservation Biologist interested primarily in biodiversity and invasive species in endangered ecosystems. He is particularly interested in insect and avian species in prairies and savannas of the Midwest.

Saturday March 1, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm CST
Rooms 21-23 & 32-34

Poster

Wild Things 2025

Paige Terpstra

Derek Rosenberger

Attendees (45)

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