Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!
Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!
Including Female Birds in Conservation Plans
Ensuring that the whole species is protected.
© OHFalcon72
For many species of birds, scientists know more about the males than the females. And that’s a problem when making a conservation plan for a species that maps out which habitats to protect. Joanna Wu, a PhD student at UCLA, says that in some species of warblers, males and females live in completely different habitats during the winter. Joanna hopes to study how to better incorporate female birds into conservation efforts and ensure that the whole species is protected.
BirdNote®
Including Female Birds in Conservation Plans
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[American Redstart female song, ML243041341]
For many species of birds, scientists know more about the males than the females. And that’s a problem when making a conservation plan for a species that maps out which habitats to protect. Joanna Wu, a PhD student at UCLA, says that in some species of warblers, males and females live in completely different habitats during the winter.
Joanna Wu: So if you’re accidentally leaving out up to half of the species in conservation plans, you’re not going to capture the full range of what the species needs.
Joanna hopes to study how to better incorporate female birds into conservation efforts.
Joanna Wu: I’m also interested in looking at whether climate change is going to affect female birds and males differently. It’s kind of unknown whether half the population will have different threats based on that than the rest of the birds.
It takes very close observation to figure out differences in female and male habitat use. These questions are worth pursuing because they could tell us how to support female birds and ensure that the whole species is protected, Joanna says.
Joanna Wu: I hope to bring these questions more to the forefront so they can continue to be investigated scientifically, in the birding world, everywhere.
[American Redstart female song, ML243041341]
Learn more about efforts to better understand female bird ecology on our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Redstart ML 243041341 recorded by M.Z.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote August 2022
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# wuj-01-2022-08-31 wuj-01
References:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/many-conservation-plans-have-a-gende…
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-forgotten-female-how-a-generatio…
Conor Gearin
Writer
Ariana Remmel
NarratorSights & Sounds
