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Podcast: BirdNote Daily
Episode: What Do Woodpeckers Do on Smoky Days?
Description: When the air is thick with wildfire smoke, people are advised to stay home. At Hastings Natural History Preserve in California, Acorn Woodpeckers do the same. These gregarious birds live in family groups and frequently visit their neighbors while foraging. Using tiny radio transmitters, scientists tracked the movements of Acorn Woodpeckers during the summer of 2020 when wildfire smoke blanketed the preserve. On smoky days, woodpeckers spent more of their time at home. And when they did leave their territories, they didn’t venture far and visited fewer neighbors than usual. Published in Current Biology in 2023, the findings suggest that ha...