(Posted June 5, 2001)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Outdoors enthusiasts with an interest in talking turkey can learn unique turkey facts, including how to tell a male bird from a female bird, at 8 p.m. June 23 at the Seven Points Recreation Area amphitheater as part of the Juniata College Summer Environmental Education Programs.

Two Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists, Michael Niebauer and Lee Humberg, will discuss a game commission research project examining why wild turkey populations are declining in the Micheaux State Forest in Adams, Cumberland and Franklin counties.

In addition, the two speakers will detail some of the unique habits displayed by turkeys. They also will show how wildlife biologists can tell how old a turkey is, as well as its gender. The presentation includes details of how the game commission uses radio technology to track how far turkeys roam in their native habitat. There will be a demonstration of how radio telemetry works as well.

Niebauer and Humberg are biologist aides with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Niebauer earned a bachelor's degree in biology/ecology from Juniata College in 1998. He has worked previously for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Humberg earned a bachelor's degree in wildlife, specializing in game harvest management, from Purdue University in 2000.

Juniata College's environmental education programs at Seven Points are sponsored by a college alumni group, the Friends of the Raystown Field Station. For more information on the program, please call Chuck Yohn, director of the Raystown Field Station, at (814) 641-3572.

Other summer presentations at the Seven Points amphitheater include:
July 21, 8:30 p.m.: A slide presentation on trout fishing on the Juniata River by outdoors writer Mark Nail.

Aug. 11, 8:30 p.m.: A presentation of dinosaurs and fossils by Dick Fonda, a physical metallurgist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
The Seven Points Recreation Area amphitheater is adjacent to the Seven Points Visitors Center. The Seven Points Recreation Area is near Hesston, Pa., several miles off Route 26.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.