FARMINGTON – Herb Wilson of Colby College will talk about “Patterns of Arrival Dates of Maine Migratory Breeding Birds” at the final Western Maine Audubon Society program of the season at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at the University of Maine at Farmington, Robert’s Learning Center, C-23.

Wilson will talk about four studies that he and his students have been conducting. First, he will describe the pattern of arrival of migratory birds as they stream into the state.

Second, he will compare arrival dates from 1994 to 1997 with comparable data from 1899 to 1911 taken from the field reports of the Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society. Third, he will discuss how temperature variation in the spring affects the arrival date of the migratory breeding birds.

Lastly, he will talk about the variability in first arrival data of the various species, with a particular emphasis on comparing birds with similar feeding strategies.

Wilson is a professor of biology at Colby. He teaches ornithology, marine ecology, marine invertebrate zoology, winter ecology and evolution and diversity.

In addition to the arrival date project, he is conducting research on the vocalizations of northern water thrushes and red-eyed vireos. He is also a co-coordinator of the Maine Butterfly Project, a five-year project beginning this spring.