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Hummingbirds and Spiders

Ouchley
K. Ouchley

Connections are a common theme on this program. We've talked about broad connections such as those linking clean water to healthy fish, wildlife, and human populations. Widespread education about more specific connections like the one between monarch butterflies and wild milkweeds have resulted in concerted efforts to benefit these species. Edification of the detrimental impacts of balloon releases on wildlife is another example of spreading the word about connections, negative ones in this case. 

Continuing in this vein, today's program is about another natural connection unknown to most people. It involves hummingbirds, a favorite subject of birdwatchers if measured by the number of hummingbird feeders sold annually. 

Kelby was a biologist and manager of National Wildlife Refuges for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 30 years. He has worked with alligators in gulf coast marshes and Canada geese on Hudson Bay tundra. His most recent project was working with his brother Keith of the Louisiana Nature Conservancy on the largest floodplain restoration project in the Mississippi River Basin at the Mollicy Unit of the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, reconnecting twenty-five square miles of former floodplain forest back to the Ouachita River.
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