I was thinking of expanding my audience to include young adults in addition to middle aged adults.  I feel that since I am a young adult my writing may appeal to other environmentally concerned young adults.

I was hoping my boyfriend would be able to fill the shoes of my audience member.  He is in the young adult range and he will be graduating soon with a Graduate degree in plant ecology.  He is environmentally minded, but doesn't know much about birds, so I am thinking he could learn a lot about the environmental factors effecting bird migration.

These are Eric Bird's responses to the questions provided about my webtext and podcast and my reactions in italics:

What did you learn from my work?  Please elaborate.

            I learned that windows and lights in the city of Chicago injure and kill many more birds than I would have previously assumed. I knew that bird collisions with windows were common, but did not know to what extent. I also did not know that lights had such deleterious effects on the migration of birds and thought it sad that birds can simply fall to the ground from exhaustion after being trapped by the disorienting effects of city lights.

            I found it reassuring on the other hand that there are people out there doing so much to try to alleviate the effects the city has on migrating birds. I found the information on the lights out Chicago program especially interesting. Any buildings still not participating in such a program should be ashamed since such an easy solution is available to help protect the health and well being of wildlife.

What would you like to know more about in my topic? Please elaborate.

            Since I do not live in the city, nor do I live in a high rise building I would be interested to know if such collisions with windows and disorientation by lights is common in more rural areas and residential style homes.

From a personal stance, I have seen many birds collide with windows on my own house and other houses.  It seems as if the high the bird population in an area, the greater the chance of birds colliding with windows, even if you have a house in the middle of no where.  If you live in a forested area where it is a natural environtmen, there will be many birds and they will have the same troubles with windows.

            I also found myself curious as to whether this is a large problem in Chicago simply because it is a big city, or does it have more to do with its proximity to lake Michigan or migration routes. For instance are just as many bird collisions occurring in say Cincinnati Ohio or Atlanta Georgia?

 Many, if not all cities affect birds during migration the same way.  many cities are built along the flyways as they serve as shipping ports, transportation hubs, etc.  The FLAP.org site is actually for the city of Toronto, Canada, showing that they too see the issues of city lights and birds. 

My purpose is to analyze the impacts humans have on birds and their migration, how we can alleviate those impacts, and how we are trying to reduce our impacts.  Do you think I achieved this purpose?  Why or why not?

            I believe that both the webtext and the podcast clearly define this purpose. Urban development such as that of the city of Chicago has increased the amount of lights and windows that can be hazardous to migrating birds. There are people that monitor the effects of such hazards and people who work to rehabilitate injured birds which help alleviate these impacts. It is also quite clear that we can reduce the impacts that windows and lights have on migrating birds by shutting off lights (lights out Chicago program), and by adding visual or physical barriers to windows that help detour migrating birds and prevent collisions.   

 I plan on expanding the ways humans negatively effect birds during migration in my slide show where I focus on the effects of human technology on migrating birds.

My thesis statement is that humans effect the migration of birds around the great lakes in a pronounced negative way as a result of extensive urban development, but there is a lot of work being done to help these travelling birds. Do you think I have supported this thesis? Why or why not?

            I believe that you have supported this thesis by showing that urban development has increased the amount of light and windows in the city of Chicago, which has led to thousands of migrating birds being killed and injured each year. Willowbrook wildlife center along with the Chicago lights out program has in turn helped thousands of birds both by alleviating the effects of development and reducing the impact.

(If applicable) Did you find the quality of my recorded podcast convincing? Are you moved to take action?  Why or why not?

            I find the quality of your podcast convincing enough. As an avid supporter of gardening with native plants I found it interesting that planting certain food sources for migrating birds could be so helpful. I encourage native landscaping and practice native landscaping but have never considered the impact that planting certain food sources could have on the bird population. I will consider plants that I could add to my garden to help migrating birds. I do have birdfeeders in my yard and near my windows, but have done so more for the aesthetic pleasure it brings me. I am glad to know that this is so helpful to the migrating bird populations.

What do you want to do after reading my work?  Please elaborate.

            I seriously will look into planting a food source garden in my yard to help migrating birds survive the long and arduous journey they have to make twice a year, and will encourage other lovers of wildlife to do so. I will also try to educate others to do things that could help reduce bird collisions with windows such as shutting off lights and adding decals. I wonder if Purdue Calumet has much trouble with bird collisions and if the university wouldn’t be interested in engaging in similar practices to reduce bird injuries and provide reasonable accommodations for migrating birds on campus since it seems feasible to do so with minimal effort and expense.

The Purdue Calumet campus does offer some good food sources of migrating birds such as the fruit bearing trees (not sure what they're called), and purple cone flowers, to name a few.  I see migrating Ruby-Crowned Kinglets on the berry trees during migration, feeding on the fruit/bugs it attracts.