Monthly Membership Program

Membership programs are open to the public, and all are welcome.
Social Hour at 6:30pm / Program at 7:00pm, on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
Whatcom Museum Old City Hall Rotunda Room
121 Prospect Street, Bellingham 98225

April 28, 2026

How Birds Fly

Peter Cavanagh, Wildlife Photographer and Author

Peter will present images and videos of flying birds to illustrate aspects of flight mechanics that are described in his recent book How Birds Fly. He will review the evolution of flight and key aspects of avian anatomy that make flight possible. Attendees will gain insights into how birds take off and land, and how they maneuver and migrate. He will also present efforts to mimic aspects of bird flight together with stories of people who have studied bird flight. Peter strives to present the complexities of avian flight in a manner that is accessible to all who are interested in birds, regardless of their science backgrounds, and he aims to leave his audiences informed and entertained.

Peter Cavanagh is a Pacific Northwest wildlife photographer and author who has been taking photographs since he was a boy of five growing up in England. He specializes in photographing and writing about birds in flight. His books: 100 FLYING BIRDS: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight and How Birds Fly: The Science and Art of Avian Flight are published by Firefly Books. His latest book was celebrated by a renowned PNW ornithologist as “….without question the best book on birds I have seen in a long time, surely one of the best (bird) books ever.”

After a career in academia as a Professor of Biomechanics at Penn State, the Cleveland Clinic, and the University of Washington (including research for NASA on human spaceflight), Peter devoted himself full-time to bird photography. He feels most at home in wild places and has travelled extensively to photograph interesting birds. His images have been included three times in the Audubon’s Top 100 Bird Photographs of the Year and is a member of the North American Nature Photographers Association. He lives in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. You can see Peter’s work at his website (www.petercavanagh.us), or on Instagram (@petercavanaghbirds).