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What chickadees can tell us about climate. Ross Caruso Meteo 482 4/22/14 Article posted on March 19, 2014. How it started. Villanova University biology professor Robert Curry Looked for an interesting project for his students He found it in his own backyard feeder: The Chickadee
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What chickadees can tell us about climate Ross Caruso Meteo 482 4/22/14 Article posted on March 19, 2014
How it started • Villanova University biology professor Robert Curry • Looked for an interesting project for his students • He found it in his own backyard feeder: The Chickadee • Wanted to catch a lot of birds and monitor them • Nesting's, offspring, partners, etc. • Focused on two species: Carolina Chickadee and the Black-Capped Chickadee
Location of project • Good candidates for his project, since they don’t migrate seasonally • The areas in which they intersected contained hybrids • Made fake nests in those areas (450 total) • Started collecting blood samples from birds to determine bird type • Started project in 1998 Chickadee Population of POI’s in 1998 (Hawk Mountain-blackcaps) (Nolde Forest-mixed) (Chester County-Carolinas)
Surprising Results • Noticed more hybrids in Hawk Mountain • Found that the line separating species was about 17 degrees • Carolinas wont live where its colder, while black-caps will • Warmer temperatures and Carolina Chickadees were moving north in sync at an average of .7 miles a year • Other possible organisms, parasites, and diseases could be following the same path
My own findings http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/id
Sources • http://articles.philly.com/2014-03-19/news/48334893_1_chickadees-hybrids-hawk-mountain-sanctuary • http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/id