Two slightly different chickadee birdsongs show how humans are reshaping Colorado’s ecosystems

In The NOCO

If you’ve spent even a little time outdoors in Colorado, you’ve most likely heard the song of the mountain chickadee. These adorable, chubby little birds are commonly found in higher-elevation forests in the Rocky Mountains.

And they have a close relative – the black-capped chickadee, which tends to live at lower elevations. But in areas like Boulder County, the habitats of these two types of chickadees overlap.

Historically, the two types of chickadees had identical birdsongs. Which could create a problem.

When birds from these two distinct species want to find a mate, it’s important that they can identify a bird of their own kind, and avoid getting mixed up with their close cousins.

But researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder say the birds found a clever solution. The mountain chickadee has changed its tune so it’s not the same as the song of the black-capped chickadee.

And new findings from the CU study suggest that the changed birdsong is a small example of how human activity and urban development can impact wildlife’s evolution.

Olivia Taylor is one of several researchers at the University of Colorado who have been studying this adaptation. She and fellow CU researcher, associate professor Scott Taylor (no relation) joined ITN’s Erin O’Toole to talk about their findings, which were recently published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

You can learn more about Scott Taylor’s work with the Boulder Chickadee Study here.

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner

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In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.