If fat stores increase, that indicates that the bird is finding enough food in that habitat. Liadis measures a bird’s fat stores, which can indicate whether there are ample sources of preferred foods like caterpillars and insects, which is in turn determined by the presence of native plant species. “So if the ecosystem does not have adequate native species, for example, that can reflect or impact the insect population, which in turn impacts the bird population.” The birds know to pick certain trees for food, Liadis said. Songbirds need to eat - a lot - and each leg of the journey requires them to fuel up a little bit more. Migration is one of the most energy-demanding parts of a bird’s life cycle, explained Liadis. Nick Liadis measures the fat stores of an ovenbird at the Twin Stupas banding site in Chicora, Butler County. Liadis finds that songbirds are returning to the site year after year, and that many are staying to breed - a biological endorsement of the ecosystem’s health, and an indication that the once-downtrodden land has undergone transformational change. “Migratory songbirds look out for native plants because they know that the relationship between insects and native plants has evolved over millions of years, and the birds have evolved alongside that,” he explained.įor some birds, the Twin Stupas is the last stop on a long and precarious journey. “There’s really good habitat,” said Liadis. John’s wort and various types of wildflowers speckle the meadows. Over time, the surrounding forest regenerated to support almost exclusively native species: Oak trees and native berry brambles, shrubby St. “It all goes back to the abundance of native plants,” explained Liadis.
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