Zoom recording: Evolution of Feather Color in the Tanagers, with Dr. Allison Schultz

The recording of this program is now available.

Evolution of Feather Color in the Tanagers, with Dr. Allison Schultz.

Join Dr. Allison Schultz, Assistant Curator of Ornithology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, as she talks about the evolution of feather color in the largest family of birds – the tanagers. She will talk about why she is careful to use a bird’s visual perspective to study this important signaling trait, and how natural and sexual selection have shaped plumage color in males and females. She will end her talk by describing some of her current work on the mechanisms underlying the great diversity of colors in birds.

Be the first on your block to collect the entire set of White-cheeked Turacos.

Dr. Allison Shultz is Assistant Curator of the Ornithology Department at NHMLAC. With her research, she seeks to understand the evolution of bird diversity, focusing on two major areas: how birds are responding to human-caused environmental changes, and how and why bird colors evolve. Dr. Shultz is originally from Southern California, and was excited to get a job so close to home. She received her PhD from Harvard University, MS from San Diego State University, and BA from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her research, Dr. Shultz is passionate about increasing diversity, inclusion, access and equity in the sciences, and inspiring a love of nature in everyone. Dr. Schultz’s website.

Cherry-throated Tanager Nemosia rourei. Commonly found in one very small patch of forest in eastern Brazil . Source: Birds of the World