Across an expanse of open grassland in Sacramento County, an eight-foot, stream cut bank holds dozens of mud-domed bird nests, where tiny heads peeked out before a colony of cliff swallows took flight. Cliff swallows are small migratory birds that arrive in the Central Valley each spring to breed, and while they now commonly nest on bridges and freeway overpasses, finding their nests built in a natural setting is a striking and special sight, particularly in California’s Central Valley.
When the time is right, a good love song can make all the difference.
A study from the University of California, Davis, found that temperature affects the sound and quality of male frogs’ mating calls. In the colder, early weeks of spring, their songs start off sluggishly. In warmer weather, their songs pick up the pace, and female frogs take note.
Better songs not only make the males more attractive mates, but they also suggest to females that environmental conditions are suitable for reproduction.
Doctoral student Cassidy Cooper is the first recipient of a fellowship supporting conservation research at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Funded by an endowment honoring a late UC Davis alum who loved wildlife, the fellowship supports her research on how temperature affects native fish in California.
As climate change increases the frequency of droughts, UCLA researchers found one overlooked side effect: people report more conflicts with wildlife during drought, when resources are scarce.
The wind was whipping across a dark, open field near the southern edge of Yolo County when two small burrowing owls suddenly burst into flight. For a team of birders from UC Davis, the birds marked the 173rd species of the day, breaking a county record that had stood for 25 years.
It was the exciting conclusion of their “Big Day,” a fast-paced birding challenge to find and identify as many bird species as possible in a 24-hour period. Their effort – spanning 150 miles of driving, 17 miles of walking and 41 stops – combined careful planning with a love of birds.
The call of American bullfrogs was deafening when scientists from the University of California, Davis, first began researching the impact of invasive bullfrogs on native northwestern pond turtles at Yosemite National Park.
“At night, you could look out over the pond and see a constellation of eyes blinking back at you,” said UC Davis Ph.D. candidate Sidney Woodruff, lead author of a study chronicling the effects of removal. “Their honking noise is iconic, and it drowns out native species’ calls.”
Home is where the perch is: Two peregrine falcons may be turning the UC Davis water tower into their new nesting spot. Andrew “Andy” Engilis Jr., ornithologist and curator of the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, spotted a pair of the birds during the first week of April after hearing a loud, high-pitched “scree, scree” outside his office in the Academic Surge building.
Almost everywhere in California, salmon are on the decline. But in Putah Creek — a restored stream running through the University of California, Davis, campus — wild salmon are not only increasing, they also are completing their life cycle.
It doesn’t require a degree in ornithology, a lab test or even an app for most growers to determine whether bird poop near their crops presents a food safety risk. They just need to ask themselves a simple question: How big is it?
