In a talk titled The Courage of Birds: And the Often Surprising Ways They Survive Winter, bird expert Pete Dunne will discuss the adaptations of North American birds that allow them to survive winter’s hardships.

The program will be 7-9 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Flesichmann Auditorium.

Tickets are $5 at museum website, and sold at the door the night-of if still available.

Dunne is the recipient of the American Birding Association’s Roger Tory Peterson Award for lifetime achievement in promoting the cause of birds.

Despite the seasonal life-sapping cold, birds have evolved strategies that meet winter’s challenges head on, driven by the imperative to make it to spring and pass down their genes to the next generation.

Dunne will address unique migration patterns and survival strategies of individual species, as well as address the impact of changing climatic conditions on avian longevity.

Dunne is an author and founder of the World Series of Birding, former director of Natural History Information for the New Jersey Audubon Society, and former director of the Cape May Bird Observatory.

An experienced tour leader, he is known for his columns and contributions to publications such as “American Birds and Birding.”

He is also the author of more than 20 books, including “Birds of Prey,” “Gulls Simplified,” “The Art of Pishing,” “The Wind Masters,” and most recently “The Shorebirds of North America.”

Books by Dunne will be available for purchase and signing at the event, courtesy of Chaucer’s Bookstore.