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slash aBA hello and welcome to the american birding podcast from the american

birding association i am nate swick i hope this episode finds you in a somewhat calm space. I am recording this early in the

week. So I have no premonition about what will happen in the days to come. I just hope you're

doing all right. But hey, we're here to discuss birds, and birds are what we shall discuss. So I came

across a cool piece of pandemic bird news a couple

weeks ago regarding white crown sparrows, which in and of itself is not a surprise. I swear I could do

an entire bird club talk about fascinating bird behavior studies that just use white crown sparrows

as a study species. There must be something about them

that is attractive to bird researchers. They must kind of settle into that sweet spot between

ubiquity and unique behaviors. Anyway, the unique behavior noted this time was that when the whole

world slowed down, quieted due to the pandemic last spring at the beginning

of the pandemic of course we were still that is still ongoing the songs of white crown sparrows

became more complex and higher quality in urban environments so u t ecologist Elizabeth Derryberry was interviewed for Wired,

which had this great write-up of the study. She likened it to a cocktail party, right? So

assuming you still remember what those are like. But essentially, you know, conversations

in a crowded, loud environment tend to be simple to the point.

Your brain does a pretty good job prioritizing what is directly in front of you and is most effective when what is in front of you is very simple.

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