New Western research reveals how rainfall shapes bird populations New study shows rainfall patterns play a powerful role in shaping bird populations and which species are most vulnerable as precipitation becomes more erratic.

@westernu.ca did a write up on our new paper! Forgive me for being proud of this contribution. ☺️
news.westernu.ca/2026/03/rain...

#ornithology #birds #meta-analysis #rain

Wow such impressive and important (and depressing) work!

Acceleration hotspots of North American birds’ decline are associated with agriculture Human activities might have accelerated declines of population abundance, but this acceleration remains underexplored. Using 1033 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes, we analyze abundance chang...

Thrilled to share our new paper out in @science.org, led by François Leroy and Petr Keil! Using the Breeding Bird Survey, we document not only a continent-wide decline in bird abundance since the 1980s — but, crucially, the acceleration of these declines over time. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds.

And here is some of the amazing news coverage of our paper. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/c... by @catrineinhorn.bsky.social

So thrilled to share this awesome perspective paper, led by @nperezmendez.bsky.social, discussing how climate mitigation strategies for rice agriculture also need to consider biodiversity impacts!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Split-screen image on a deep green background. Left side contains a statement from Dr David Obura, IPBES Chair, regarding the US withdrawal from IPBES and extinction threats to over 1 million species. Right side shows a photograph of a man wearing glasses, dressed in a dark jacket and grey shirt, seated at a conference table with a microphone. The IPBES logo appears at the bottom with the tagline "Science and Policy for People and Nature". The design features white typography on the dark green background, creating a professional contrast. Several small pins or badges are visible on the speaker's jacket.

“We cannot withdraw from the fact that over 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.”

IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.

— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair

Tired of lumping all insectivores together? Now we can appreciate a quantitative breakdown of foraging ecology across all birds!

New job alert!

We're hiring a short-term technician from mid May to late August to survey birds and pests in lettuce fields across the California Central Coast. Housing provided, pay is $20-23.

Check out the job ad to apply: karp.ucdavis.edu/join-the-lab/

Falcons reduce pre‐harvest food safety risks and crop damage from wild birds In the absence of American kestrels, there are more birds in orchards. This leads to increased crop damage and more bird faecal contamination.

🍒🪶Excited for our new article to come out in
@jappliedecology.bsky.social

We show that falcons attracted to orchards using nestboxes reduce food safety risks and crop damage from wild birds.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Excited to hype up this excellent paper led by Mia Lippey, finishing up her PhD at @ucdavis.bsky.social, and in collaboration with @beckyck.bsky.social, @dskarp.bsky.social + others, finding that once again in (agro)ecology "it depends". 👩‍🔬 🐞🪲🌍🌐🧪 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

Amazing morning tagging along for the salmon research on Putah Creek!

Text from email we received from UC Pres Milliken. States "After learning more about the history and success of the program and weighing the thoughtful perspectives that have been shared, I have concluded that barring extraordinary financial setbacks, the Presidential Postdoc Fellowship Program faculty hiring incentive program will continue while the University continues to assess the program's structure as well as its long-term financial sustainability."

You may have heard that the UC decided to cancel the Presidential Postdoc program, a decision which lots of folks found incredibly short-sighted. But we just got an email from UC Pres Milliken that the fellowship program is back, baby! (at least for the time being, but hey, it's something)

If you're an undergrad looking for a great biodiversity/conservation field course, please check this out. Run by my buddy Jordan Karubian through Tulane U.

First time chasing a rare bird with the kiddo... a total success!

(after a mild scare when a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew off with a bird in its talons that we thought was our Sagebrush Sparrow.)

The Bodega Marine Lab and @ucdavis.bsky.social were on @jeopardyofficial.bsky.social last night! 🎉

We’ll take "Ways to Make a Marine Scientist’s Day” for $1,000, please, and give a big shoutout to our @whiteabalone.bsky.social team!

📺: Season 42, E9434 - Week 10, Episode 49

New agroecology research in "Ecological Applications"👇

Spatiotemporal isolation of oilseed rape fields reduces insect pest pressure and crop damage We find that there is no one fits all approach in designing landscapes for flea beetle regulation as habitat use and scales of effect are species-specific for these pests. However, increasing the spa....

We showed that they vary even within the same genus doi.org/10.1111/1365... (shameless plug 😅)

Another really cool pest paper just came out in @esajournals.bsky.social! Led by Mia Lippey, we show how variable pest responses are to landscape context... even in the same cropping system!

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Kiddo went all out on my birthday cake this year... With a little help from @rachaelabay.bsky.social :)

The bark of a foxtail pine tree is seen from the right side while the Sierra Nevada mountains stretches out below. A woman in a light blu shirt walks beside a pine tree below in teh bottom left corner of the shot. Photo by Kat Kerlin, UC Davis

Ink and watercolor sketch of a Clark's nutcracker bird perched atop a tree snag with green pine forest below and pink, beighe, gray and blue mountain landscape in background. Art by Kat Kerlin, UC Davis

Two women, Sachi Srivastava at top and Gabrielle Katanic, wears ballcaps, light blue shirts and backpacks while looking at bushy pine tree amid large boulders in the High Sierra mountains. Photo by Kat Kerlin, UC Davis

For 4 days I followed @ucdavis.bsky.social scientists into the High Sierra to learn secrets from a tree, a bird and a changing world. I came back with this story, a new @unfoldpodcast.bsky.social episode, tons of pics and even watercolors.🌲🪺 🎨 Enjoy! www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

The Brown and Stachowicz labs are looking for a postdoc for an NSF-funded project on the thermal dependence of disease in eelgrass! As a bonus you get to be based at the Bodega Marine Lab! Interested? Find out more here: brown-ecology.com/join-us/

The Importance of Landscape Composition for Pest Control and Crop Yield: A Global Quantitative Synthesis In a global analysis of 116 studies, we show that landscape composition affects crop yield both directly and indirectly via traits of crops, herbivores and natural enemies. Our results suggest that w...

Excited about this paper led by Katja Poveda & Heather Grab!

We use SEM to show natural habitat at large scales improves biocontrol. But, locally, it can decrease yields, perhaps due to edge effects or areas of lower agronomic quality.

Check it out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

UC to Stop Funding Systemwide Postdoc Program Established in 1984 to encourage women and minority Ph.D.s to pursue academia, the program has attracted right-wing criticism for prioritizing diverse candidates.

I heard rumors about this but devastating to see it happening.. “the PPFP faculty hiring incentive is sunsetting as of fall 2025” 💔 www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Yup! Winner :)

Puffleg is a great guess and totally the right region... But it isn't right. The tail is key too :)

Ok #bird people- can anyone ID my daughter's Halloween costume? Hint the key is the feet and the tail...

(Also this costume was 100 percent kid driven)

The writer of the post, laying on the ground behind a small Jeffrey Pine Seedling growing from rocky soil.

An upclose photo of a female Anna’s Hummingbird face.

A Mountain View with pink skies and tents in the foreground.

Time for an intro! Hi everyone, my name is Mike, and I recently started grad school in the Safford Lab at UC Davis where I’ll be working towards a PhD in the Grad Group in Ecology researching avian ecology for improved conservation efforts and ecosystem management, primarily in forested systems.

Congrats to the absolutely incredible @rachaelabay.bsky.social !!!

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

Eclipses fool birds into thinking it's morning!
Congrats to @rosvall-lab.bsky.social for this amazing work!

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New paper out today led by Prof. @dskarp.bsky.social

Marketing birds: The traits birdwatching tourism companies highlight in Costa Rican tour itineraries