Smoky skies at the Cougar Creek Fire in Washington’s Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest, August 2018. Credit to Kari Greer/U.S. Forest ServiceMany wildlife enthusiasts are wondering what happens to birds when the wildfire season in Washington becomes more frequent.Wildfire smoke effects on birds have been the subject of few studies. Washington, and the West Coast in general continue to be affected by wildfire smoke and other smoke-filled air. Understanding how smoke affects birds and how it may impact our ability to spot them is important for bird conservation.University of Washington researchers now offer a first glimpse at the likelihood of common birds being observed as wildfire season air pollution increases. Over a period of four years, they found that smoke had a significant impact on the ability to identify more than one third of the Washington state bird species. Smoke can sometimes make it difficult to see birds. However, other species are easier to spot when there is smoke. These results were published in Ornithological applications on June 29th.Lead author Olivia Sanderfoot is a doctoral candidate at the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. She said, "We want to understand how wildfire smoke impacts birds and other wildlife, and we think this study is a great starting point." Smoke has a clear impact on wildlife detection, which has not been fully explored in the literature. We now know that smoke pollution has a direct impact on our ability to spot birds and our observations.Researchers combined data from eBird (an online citizen-science program run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology) with data publicly available from an extensive network of Washington state air quality monitors. The researchers were able analyze the effects of fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) on the likelihood of seeing 71 common birds during wildfire seasons 2015-2018. Higher levels of smoke had a negative impact on the likelihood of seeing 37% (or 26) of the birds included in the study.The study revealed that 16 of the bird species could be difficult to see if there was more wildfire smoke. This includes Canada geese and turkey vultures as well as two gull species, Canada geese and bald eagles, among other birds of prey. The authors stated that many of these birds can be seen circling high above ground so it is not surprising that people have difficulty recognizing them when the smoke levels are higher. Nevertheless, 10 other species were easier to spot when the smoke concentrations were higher. These included three types of warblers: cedar waxwing, California quail, and spotted towhee.Although the reasons are not clear and beyond the scope of this study the authors offer some suggestions for future research. One possibility is that smoke reduces visibility, causing some birds to be lower to the ground, where they are more easily heard and seen. Smoke can also cause birds of prey (birds of prey) to move, which could ease the pressure on songbirds, making them more active and thus easier to spot.Sanderfoot stated that these behavioral changes are only hypothetical and that more research is needed to understand how smoke affects wildlife.Management and conservation efforts depend on being able to observe wild animals. This is also true for birds. This paper demonstrates that air pollution plays an important role in the detection of animals. It should also be considered along with other factors such as temperature, precipitation, and time of day that can all have an impact on observations of animals.Senior author Beth Gardner, an associate professor at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, said that if we hear or see birds more often because of smoke, it also impacts larger inferences about how certain bird populations are doing. "We want that part to be right so we need to first understand the effects of air pollution on wild bird sightings.Researchers chose to study the four-year period over which there were some years when wildfire smoke was high in certain parts of the state and others where it was minimal. The study included all species that had at least 750 observations in their first year (2015). All observations were made within 20 miles (32 km) of an Washington air quality monitor.This analysis did not include data from the 2020 wildfire season. However, the air quality was much worse than any other years. Researchers stated that as extreme wildfire season like 2020 becomes more common, it is important to consider the impact of these events in future studies.Learn more Wildfire smoke is more harmful than other air pollutants to asthma patientsMore information: Olivia V Sanderfoot and colleagues, Wildfire smoke affects the detection of birds in Washington State. Ornithological applications (2021). Olivia V Sanderfoot and colleagues, Wildfire smoke effects detection of birds in Washington State (2021). DOI: 10.1093/ornithapp/duab028
