SHERBURNE – The Chenango Birding Club presents Greene Smith’s Birds on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m., at the Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne, an informal presentation detailing the life of a local man with an extraordinary passion for birds.

Greene Smith of Peterboro was a pioneering amateur ornithologist in the mid-19th century, widely renowned for his splendid collection of thousands of bird specimens from all over the world. By the age of 21, Greene, son of the famed abolitionist Gerrit Smith, had built a private museum in which to house his collection, which grew to be one of the most admired of the era. Donations of his specimens contributed to the establishment of the ornithological collections and programs at Cornell, Harvard, and Colgate Universities.

Speaker Kay Rorer is steward of the Bird House at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and coordinator of the Greene Smith Society.