Urban Bird Demography Project

The Urban Bird Demography Project seeks to understand how urbanization and climate influence survival of avian species.  Advancing spring phenology has the potential to alter food resources for neotropical migrants at a period when food demands are high.  Compounding the advancing of spring phenology is effects of urbanization on climate (e.g., via the urban heat island effect) and food resources. We seek to understand these interacting factors by contrasting survival of resident birds, who can (in principle) immediately respond to local conditions; with neotropical migrants, who must rely on cues from distant wintering grounds to determine when to migrate.  To control for taxonomic differences among species, we selected focal species from within the same family.  Our focal species are therefore Northern Cardinal (family Cardinalidae, resident) and Indigo Bunting (family Cardinalidae, migratory); and Song Sparrow (family Passerellidae, resident) and White-throated Sparrow (family Passerellidae, migratory).

This project is strongly driven by undergraduate researchers. Undergraduates lean skills in bird identification, bird banding, re-sighting of marked birds, and data entry and analysis.  Participants in the Research Apprenticeship Program work closely with Dr. Rota and graduate students within the lab and are encouraged to develop their own unique research project.