We’ll Always Have Parrots: The Past, Present, and Future of Amazona Parrots in Los Angeles

Dr. John McCormack will speak on the history of Los Angeles’ Amazona parrots (Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots) and what DNA from museum specimens can tell us about their origins, adaptation to city life, hybridization, and future as distinct species. Dr. McCormack is Director and Curator of the Bird and Mammal Collection at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology and an Assistant Professor of Biology at Occidental College. The Moore Lab holds the largest collection of Mexican birds in the world and over 65,000 specimens in total, which researchers from around the world study to understand avian biodiversity and how it originated. Dr. McCormack has pioneered the use of new DNA sequencing technologies to collect DNA from museum

specimens. He received his undergraduate degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona and his PhD from UCLA. After postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan and Louisiana State University, he arrived at Occidental College as Moore Lab Director in 2011. He recently oversaw the completion of a major remodel to the Moore Lab’s facilities and collection space.

This will be an online meeting by way of Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/6155249106