Little Bird, Big City

A tiny songbird called a black phoebe is trying to adapt to city life – and it’s not an easy job. They didn’t naturally evolve in the city, and they face different threats than they might in their natural habitat. Black phoebes may encounter tougher predators, more chemical pollution and hotter temperatures in the city. In this episode of Unfold, we’ll talk to researchers hoping to find a way for humans and the backyard bird to happily coexist. What they learn could help us understand how to protect other bird species whose habitat is threatened by urban sprawl.

In this episode:

Sage Madden, UC Davis ecology Ph.D. student

Jacob Johnson, UC Davis animal behavior Ph.D. student

Ian Haliburton, UC Davis master’s candidate in animal behavior

Learn more about Project Phoebe by visiting our webpage, www.ucdavis.edu/unfold.