SFBBO Data Shows How Wildfire Smoke Impacts Birds

By SFBBO Outreach and Communications Director Kristin Butler

As the incidence and intensity of wildfires continues to increase due to climate change and other factors, scientists are looking at long term data sets to understand the impact of these disasters on animals, including birds. 

Recently, researchers used two decades of bird banding data collected at our Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS) to investigate how wildfire smoke has influenced the capture rates and body condition of passerines or near-passerine bird species. 

Their conclusions were published in a paper this month, "Wildfire Smoke Impacts the Body Condition and Capture Rates of Birds in Calfornia," in the scientific journal Ornithology, with SFBBO Science Director Katie LaBarbera serving as one of the lead authors, along with UCLA's Anna Nihei, Olivia Sanderfoot, and Morgan Tingley.

The science team said their research suggests that wildfire smoke is a potentially frequent large-scale environmental stressor on birds, specifically that short-term exposure to smoke decreases bird activity, while long-term exposure can lead to avian weight loss and impact birds' survival and reproduction.

The authors said that birds are key indicator species that can give us insight into the impacts to other species and ecosystems, and advocated for more study of the mechanisms driving these observed changes in bird health and behavior and that more research is needed to understand the mechanosms driving these observed changes in bird health and behavior.