Fieldwork

The 2024 Project Phoebe field season officially wrapped up last week! We want to give a heartfelt thank you to all the site managers and community members who supported our research efforts. And a huge thank you to the wonderful team of undergraduates involved in the project. Our work would not be possible without all […]

Project Phoebe’s field season has now passed its busiest point — late May / early June, when most of our Phoebe pairs (a male and a female that raise young together) are caring for their chicks. So far this season, we have been tracking the activity and success of 56 Phoebe pairs, many of whom […]

Project Phoebe’s second field season has gotten off to a very early start! By the end of March, we were already monitoring 26 nests with eggs or chicks (compared to 1 nest at this time last). This has left us wondering–did the Phoebes start breeding earlier this year? Or have we just gotten much better […]

Project Phoebe is about three months into its first field season. Adorable baby Phoebes have fledged (left the nest) at a handful of our nests, and some parents have already laid a second round of eggs! Other Phoebe pairs are just laying their first round of eggs. To better understand how city life affects Phoebe […]

Several of our Phoebe nests now have nestlings! When these babies hatch, they are tiny, mostly featherless, and helpless. The parents brood them to keep them warm and bring them insects to eat. The nestlings quickly grow to their adult size (17-22 grams), and they are ready to leave the nest in about three weeks […]

We are now a little over one month into Project Phoebe’s first field season, and several of our Phoebe pairs have laid eggs! After constructing and meticulously lining their mud nests with soft grasses, a female Phoebe lays 1 to 6 eggs that range from pure white to lightly spotted around one end. She typically […]

Project Phoebe’s fieldwork begin a few weeks ago and is off to a great start! Our team members have been out looking for breeding pairs of Phoebes and new nests all over Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento, and more. We have found lots of old mud cup nests, which may be used again this year. Constructing […]