Birds in Forested Landscapes
Image from the Connecticutt DEP's Wildlife Division volunteer page.
DB: This is Earth and Sky with a look at a study called “Birds in Forested Landscapes,” which coordinates the efforts of both scientists and volunteers.
JB: We spoke with Stefan Hames, a researcher with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York.
Stefan Hames: The goal of the project is to help us understand how fragmentation affects forest birds… And the secondary goals are to teach citizens how science works on the ground, how we develop hypothesis, how we test them, as well as how scientific fieldwork is carried out… And basically, these people do it I think because they think it’s a fun, it’s a cool thing to do. And it also gives them a chance to give back something to the natural world.
DB: Thousands of birders and amateur scientists across North America are trained to collect field data about forest-dwelling bird species. These are birds like the Veery that need a patch of forest to be a minimum size in order to breed successfully.
JB: Forest fragmentation increases the likelihood that the Veery won’t breed. In edge habitat, there tends to be less food and an increase in predators and pollution .
DB: To find out more about this study, come to earthsky.org. Thanks today to the U.S. Forest Service and to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – supporting the conservation of native fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats. We’re Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.
The following individual was interviewed for today’s show. Our thanks to:
Stefan Hames
Post-Doctoral Associate
Bird Population Studies
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Ithaca, NY
Interested in getting involved?
Click here. – Or call 607-25-BIRDS
Additional Teacher Resources
U.S. National Public Radio, The National Geographic Society, Radio Expeditions: The Birds of the Boreal; Canadian Forest is Home to Billions of Migratory Birds
Canada’s Boreal Forest is not well known as the tropical rainforest, but the watery arctic breeding ground is the source of billions of birds that fly south and end up at American birdfeeders. This article explores how large areas of the Boreal are being carved up for logging and oil wells? affecting these birds’ migratory habits.
Cornell University. Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Birds in Forested Landscape
This is the official web site for the Birds in Forested Landscape project. It provides information on the history and purpose of the project, how students can get involved, and links to more information on habitat fragmentation in north America.
Cornell University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology: What is Forest Fragmentation and Why is it Important?
Forest fragmentation occurs when large, continuous forests are divided into smaller blocks, either by roads, clearing for agriculture, urbanization, or other human development. Ornithologists suspect that fragmentation harms many woodland birds by increasing their susceptibility to predation and nest parasitism. This report explores the negative affects of forest fragmentation and why it is important to develop solutions to the problem.
