Ravens, Crows, and Magpies, OH MY! with John and Colleen Marzluff

Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Meet at MNHC, travel by MNHC bus
Cost: $150 MNHC members/$160 non-members

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Join John and Colleen Marzluff on a scientific exploration of the corvid’s world.

Corvids are a family of songbirds including crows, ravens, magpies, nutcrackers, and jays. The Marzluffs have spent four decades studying corvids throughout the Northern Hemisphere and continue to do so in Yellowstone, where they are unraveling the connections between ravens, wolves, and people. Their work highlights the long-standing influence these birds have on people, the mental acuity they use to solve problems, the complexity of their behavior, and the challenges they pose to conservation efforts. Missoula is home to ravens that will thrill us with their acrobatic flight, crows that will sidle up to us for a close look, magpies that are as colorful as they are noisy, nutcrackers that are busy stashing seeds for winter, and jays that give away their moods by raising and lowering their blue crests.

We will combine in-class lectures with field observations to learn about the remarkable behaviors, habits, and influences of these common, but often underappreciated, birds. 

Instructors:
John Marzluff is Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington.  His research has been the focus of articles in the New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Boys Life, The Seattle Times, National Wildlife, Consumer Reports, Time, and Science.  PBS’s NATURE featured his raven research in its production, “Ravens,” and his crow research in the film documentary, “A Murder of Crows.”  His current research focuses on the interactions of ravens and wolves in Yellowstone. He teaches field ecology courses at the University of Washington and for Yellowstone Forever.

Dr. Marzluff has written six books and edited several others. His graduate research in communication, social organization, demography, and foraging behavior was reveled in The Pinyon Jay, 1992, Academic Press (coauthored with his advisor Russell Balda). His book, In the Company of Crows and Ravens (with Tony Angell, 2005 Yale U. Press) blends biology, conservation, and anthropology to suggest that human and crow cultures have co-evolved.  This book won the 2006 Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction.  With his wife, Colleen, he published Dog Days, Raven Nights (2011 Yale University Press), which combines reflection with biology and the recreational pursuit of dog sledding to show how a life in science blooms.  Gifts of the Crow (2012 Free Press, coauthored with Tony Angell) applies a neurobiological perspective to understand the amazing feats of corvids.  His Welcome to Subirdia (2014 Yale) discovers that moderately settled lands host a splendid array of biological diversity and suggests ways in which people can steward these riches to benefit birds and themselves.  His most recent In Search of Meadowlarks (2020 Yale) connects our agriculture and diets to the conservation of birds and other wildlife.

Dr. Marzluff has mentored over 40 graduate students and authored over 170 scientific papers on various aspects of bird behavior and wildlife management. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithologist’s Union, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a National Geographic Explorer.

Colleen Marzluff completed her bachelor’s degree at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1982.  She returned to her native southwest to study biology at Northern Arizona University, where she completed a Master’s thesis on the feeding ecology of Abert’s squirrels.  After completing her degree, she worked with Dr. Russell Balda as a technician in his Avian Cognition Lab until leaving for Maine.  After moving to Idaho, she was hired by a private consulting company as an administrative assistant.  She continued part-time as an administrative assistant when the company split off to a nonprofit group.  Because running sled dogs wasn’t a well-known sport in Boise, Idaho, she developed a curriculum for and taught a class every fall. Later, in Washington she became a full time mother to daughters and dogs.  Today she is involved in several local organizations and her daughters’ schools.  To keep her animal behavior skills sharp, she is participating in pet therapy, agility, and recently, herding.

What to Bring: 

• clothes for chaning Montana weather conditions- layers, good shoes, rain or sun gear

• water/snacks

• lunch

• binoculars (we have some to borrow)

• notebooks and writing implement (optional)

• anything you need to be comfortable in the classroom, on the bus, or in the field

FAQs
What’s the refund policy?

The course fee (minus a 25% administrative fee) is refundable if a cancellation is made up to 7 days before the event. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made after this deadline. See our full refund/cancellation policy here.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

Nope! We will have a list of all the attendees.