Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
strands—adapters naturally take to our settlements. Around the world, i nches
(cardinals, goldi nches, greeni nches), thrushes (robins, song thrushes, Euro-
pean blackbirds), sparrows (dunnocks, song sparrows, white-crowned spar-
rows), tits (great tits, blue tits, bush tits, black-capped chickadees), corvids
(magpies, ravens, and some crows), and birds that sip nectar from opulent l ow-
ers (singing and brown honeyeaters, Anna's and cinnamon-tailed humming-
birds, rainbow lorikeets) are adapters.
Exploiters are species that thrive in our presence, often coevolving with hu-
mans and rarely occurring where people do not exist. Exploiters nest or roost
on our homes, eat our waste, and walk our streets. They are among our most
familiar birds and include the fab i ve cosmopolitans we met in Chapter 2. Other
exploiters are American and hooded crows, ring-necked and monk parakeets,
northern and tropical mockingbirds, black redstarts, barn swallows, barn owls,
chimney swifts, house martins, house i nches, and house wrens.
Identifying avoiders, adapters, and exploiters is possible by comparing
bird communities in areas that have changed over time or by comparing sev-
eral places that dif er in the degree or age of settlement at one time. Unfortu-
nately, these studies cannot tell us how or when the avoiders declined, or
when and in what order the adapters or exploiters appeared. We cannot infer
whether the gains and losses were sudden or gradual. Hidden are the possible
interactions between colonists that may determine their tenure in our towns.
Gaining such understanding requires a i ner look at the appearance and dis-
appearance of birds in neighborhoods over time. It was time to search for
more survey stakes and carefully map the response of birds to the changes
that were certain to follow.
Roarke Donnelly grew up outside of Chicago and moved to Seattle in 1997 to
pursue his Ph.D. As he considered possible dissertation topics, he was struck
