08-48: City Pigeons and Urban Evolution with Elizabeth Carlen

The American Birding Podcast

naswick

Science, Birding, Hobbies, Travel, Birdwatching, Leisure, Aba, Ornithology, Nature, Birds

4.7 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The humble Rock Pigeon can provide some interesting insights into how natural selection is impacted by the urban environment. That is the work of Elizabeth Carlen, a former PhD candidate at Fordham University in New York City and the lead author of a recent article in Evolutionary Applications that looks at genetic connectivity of Rock Pigeons populations in various cities in the Northeast United States. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about the unique issues with studying urban Rock Pigeons.

Also, how geotagged gulls are like Thanksgiving celebrations.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You'll hear it before you realize you've arrived.
0:08.4	Thousands of voices, then missed lifting to reveal a cliff close enough to touch.
0:13.7	Find yourself here amongst the astonishing colonies of seabirds, and possibly close to you,
0:18.9	to each other, in Newfoundland.
0:21.3	With over 350 bird species, the world's most accessible seabird nesting sites,
0:25.6	North America's largest puffin colony,
0:27.3	and one of the continent's biggest bald eagle populations.
0:30.0	This North Atlantic Island is a birdwatcher's paradise.
0:33.5	Binoculars may be optional, but this wonder is mandatory.
0:36.8	Book your Newfoundland Adventure now at n.lburning.com.
0:46.7	Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from the American Birding Association.
0:50.8	I'm Nate Swick.
0:52.0	Happy Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating today. That's today,
0:55.9	of course, if you are listening immediately upon downloading this episode. Some of you
0:59.8	might be coming to it later. That's okay. That's fine. If there's one thing that means Thanksgiving
1:04.9	to me, it is the foraging for leftovers and the hours and days following the big meal.
1:09.5	So it all really applies. I'm like a bird
1:11.9	in that regard, like a specific bird in particular. Actually, one called Eric. There's a group of
1:18.9	Belgian and Dutch researchers that for several years has been placing GPS trackers on herring
1:24.3	and lesser blackback goals that nest at three breeding colonies north of Bruges
1:29.2	along the North Sea right at the border of Belgium and the Netherlands.
1:33.6	In fact, two colonies are Belgium, one is Dutch.
	...

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