The Bird Brief
A global rundown of newly published avian research and newsworthy bird stories in just 5 minutes.
The Bird Brief
Episode 4: Owls, Chickadees, and do birds care about the Eclipse?
Welcome to Episode 4 of the Bird Brief. This is Stephanie Jenkins Aslett, avian ecologist and former intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense giving you the rundown on the most recent happenings in birds, both in popular news and published research throughout the world. Today’s episode will include the plan to remove half a million barred owls from Pacific Northwest forests, the phenomenal memory of chickadees, and the impact of the recent solar eclipse on bird behavior. You will be up to date in just five minutes. Let’s get started.
See below for links to all the articles we talked about on the show:
Barred Owl and Spotted Owl Controversy
https://www.fws.gov/project/barred-owl-management, https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2024/03/feds-plan-to-kill-half-a-million-barred-owls-in-west-coast-states-over-the-next-three-decades.html
Solar Eclipse
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/03/solar-eclipse-could-scramble-bird-behavior
Chickadees
Chettih SN, Mackevicius EL, Hale S, Aronov D. Barcoding of episodic memories in the hippocampus of a food-caching bird. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Jul 3:2023.05.27.542597. doi: 10.1101/2023.05.27.542597. Update in: Cell. 2024 Mar 22;: PMID: 37461442; PMCID: PMC10349996. https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(24)00235-6
Music and Bird Sound:
Barred Owl (Strix varia); Recorded by Thomas G. Sander/Macaulay Library; May 1992; ML125364.
Spotted Owl (Northern) (Strix occidentalis caurina); Recorded by Thomas G. Sander/Macaulay Library; May 1992; ML125369.
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus); Recorded by Doug Hitchcox/Macaulay Library; Feb 2018; ML87282551.
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus); Recorded by William W. H. Gunn/Macaulay Library; Feb 1977; ML5812
Hearing Protection Tips:
Okay, as your birder friend, I want you to hear your birds today, but also in five years. Make sure you have the basics, get some inexpensive foam earplugs at your local drugstore and put them in your bag or car for those random times you are heading to a show and its going to be way too loud. Also grab some earmuffs and have them handy for when you use the blender or mow the lawn.
Here's a few that I like that are inexpensive and won't break the bank:
-Mack’s Ultra Soft Foam Earplugs, 7 Pair + Case – (NRR 33 dB Highest NRR). https://amzn.to/3Xn2xrN .
-3M PELTOR Ear Muffs, X1, (NRR 22) https://amzn.to/41aMcbU. Most comfortable muff in my opinion. Nicely slim for a muff while providing good ear protection. Fantastic to bring to fireworks shows and air shows, so you can take them off to chat with your friends. Bonus -- even comfortable and lightweight enough that your kid will wear them!
-3M PELTOR X3 Earmuffs, (NRR 25-28) https://amzn.to/40XXVZN. Great protection, but can get heavy.
*Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) is the number of decibels that the ear pro can reduce ambient noise levels – NRR 33 is the maximum. I’ve found that NRR 33 is pretty bulky/heavy in muffs so I opt for NRR 22 or NRR 25.
@THE.BIRD.BRIEF