Researchers at the University of Kentucky are collecting data on native bird species and studying their reaction to conservation efforts.
Darin McNeil is an assistant professor of wildlife management in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at UK. He said the data becomes more meaningful through comparison of different birds in different areas.
“Comparing aspects of survival and movement rates among species that are at a very rural site like here at Raven Run to a site that is very well managed, but still much more urban like McConnell Springs that is in town in Lexington,” McNeil said. “Looking at things like the survival of those birds can help us understand what the effects of something like urbanization might have on those populations or might not.”
A large portion of the research is done through a process called banding, where researchers catch wild birds then attach a small, numbered tag to the bird’s leg to track and mark it. Once collected, the data is used to identify factors that drive variation in survival rates among different avian populations.
McNeil said research like this helps people to better understand how potential stressors might affect different bird populations.
“Maybe a red-headed woodpecker maybe they are more sensitive to urbanization, versus a tufted titmouse that is both ubiquitous in both urban or rural areas. Or a cardinal that is found in both types of places,” McNeil said.
McNeil said these are the types of questions he wants to answer with the data collected. McNeil said if bird populations aren’t monitored, the state could lose some of its biodiversity.
McNeil and his students have banded multiple species, including the Carolina wren, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, and the northern cardinal - the Kentucky state bird.
Officials said the research was made possible thanks to grants from the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service.