CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Syndicated nature columnist Scott Shalaway, whose "The Wild Side" column appears in the Sunday Gazette-Mail, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a number of other publications, will give two birding-related talks in Charleston on Sunday.

Shalaway will speak on "Birds of the Backyard and Beyond" during his first appearance, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday during the annual West Virginia Book Festival in the Charleston Civic Center. That talk will focus on neotropical migrants - birds from South America, Central America and the Caribbean that travel annually to West Virginia to nest.

Shalaway's second talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the Clay Center's Electric Sky Theater, when he discusses "Tropical Adventures: The Galapagos Islands, the Ecuadoran Cloud Forest and Panama's Canopy Tower," a travelogue of his tropical birding adventures.

Both programs are free and open to the public. Shalaway's Charleston appearances are co-sponsored by the Handlan Chapter of the Brooks Bird Club.

A resident of Cameron in Marshall County, Shalaway is the author of several nature-themed books, including "Butterflies of the Backyard," "Building a Backyard Bird Habitat," and "A Guide to Bird Homes."

Shalaway holds a doctorate in wildlife ecology from Michigan State University. He has worked for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and previously taught at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station.

Shalaway will speak on "Birds of the Backyard and Beyond" during his first appearance, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday during the annual West Virginia Book Festival in the Charleston Civic Center. That talk will focus on neotropical migrants - birds from South America, Central America and the Caribbean that travel annually to West Virginia to nest.

Shalaway's second talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the Clay Center's Electric Sky Theater, when he discusses "Tropical Adventures: The Galapagos Islands, the Ecuadoran Cloud Forest and Panama's Canopy Tower," a travelogue of his tropical birding adventures.

Both programs are free and open to the public. Shalaway's Charleston appearances are co-sponsored by the Handlan Chapter of the Brooks Bird Club.

A resident of Cameron in Marshall County, Shalaway is the author of several nature-themed books, including "Butterflies of the Backyard," "Building a Backyard Bird Habitat," and "A Guide to Bird Homes."

Shalaway holds a doctorate in wildlife ecology from Michigan State University. He has worked for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and previously taught at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station.