April Program

Understanding the physiology of migratory bird flight at high altitudes.

With Dr. Catherine Ivy

7:30 PM, Thursday April 16, 2026
In person and online!

Rm 1130 Health Sciences Bldg., U of S

Dr. Catherine Ivy is a new assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Biology who focuses on how animals maintain oxygen uptake in changing and challenging environments. She earned her BSc in Zoology at the University of Guelph and a PhD at McMaster University, followed by Postdoctoral research at the University of Western Ontario. Her research has spanned various altitudes, continents, and species, with the underlying question of how animals maintain oxygen uptake when challenged by low oxygen.

Migratory flight is an intensive exercise that requires birds to maintain high amounts of oxygen uptake for many hours or days. Maintaining oxygen supply to flight muscles is therefore important during migration, especially since tracking studies have shown that songbirds will ascend to altitudes of 6,000 m during migratory flight where oxygen is less readily available (hypoxia). Whether there are adaptations or seasonal plasticity along the oxygen cascade (transporting oxygen from the lungs to the flight muscle) that allow songbirds to fly at such high altitudes during the migratory season has been unknown. My research has shown that migratory songbirds do exhibit seasonal plasticity along the oxygen cascade during migration. This includes changes in breathing pattern, haemoglobin-oxygen binding affinity, and muscle fiber size and phenotype. We have also shown that the magnitude of seasonal plasticity may be dictated by migratory distance. In yellow-rumped warblers and hermit thrush, two short-distance migrants, the ability to fly at high altitudes appeared to be dictated by the magnitude of seasonal flexibility along the oxygen cascade. Moving forward, the Ivy lab will be assessing how wildfire smoke impacts the lungs of songbirds and their ability to complete migration.

Please note that if the link to join online requests a passcode, please enter SNS. If you have trouble connecting via the Zoom link, please text or phone LeeAnn at 306-880-9027. Please consider joining the meeting a little early so we can address any problems.

All members who have registered an email address with SNS will receive an email containing the link to join the meeting through Zoom. If you have not registered an email address with us, but would like to do so, please contact Claire Bullaro at c.bear@sasktel.net.

Monthly Meetings and Speaker Programme

Listen, learn, and share ideas with people who are passionate about our natural world! 

SNS offers a monthly speaker programme from September to April on the third Thursday of the month. All meetings are live streamed through Zoom.

During the fall and spring months presentations will be in hybrid format: speakers will present live at in-person meetings while being simultaneously streamed through Zoom. During winter months speakers may be streamed from outside the Saskatoon region and on these occasions, there will be no in-person meeting.

All are welcome to attend these meetings either in-person or through Zoom. Look for details about each month’s meeting in the SNS membership newsletter, confirming any in-person meeting time and place. A reminder email with the meeting details and Zoom link will be sent to each member whose current email address is on file.

Non-members who wish to attend through Zoom should provide their name and email address to Claire Bullaro at c.bear@sasktel.netfor each meeting. Please consider becoming a member of the Saskatoon Nature Society if you wish to receive the Zoom link automatically each month.

In person meetings are held on the University of Saskatchewan Campus and are thus subject to the university’s rules regarding COVID restrictions. At present, masks and social distancing are encouraged but not required. We will not be providing shared refreshments, so please bring your own drinks and snacks.

The monthly meetings include announcements from the SNS president. If you have an announcement or notice, please contact the president at least 2 days before the meeting.

Tracking Migratory Birds:Where Do They Really Fly? - Ernesto Carman

September 2022

Wetland Drainage and its Impacts on Biodiversity in the Prairie and Parkland Region of Canada

Kiel Drake

February 2022