Several of Project Phoebe’s undergraduate team members will be presenting their projects at the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference on April 25th, 2025. Please stop by the University Credit Union from 1-2 pm and 4-5 pm to learn more about their work, including the diversity of nesting surfaces and materials Phoebes use, how Black Phoebes […]
For the last two months, the Project Phoebe has been hard at work collecting data for our third and final field season. At the start of the season, we thoroughly surveyed all of our nest sites from 2025 to see which nests had fallen down over the winter. Although Phoebe nests fall pretty regularly, both […]
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 […]
Check in with our team as we get started on our second season of fieldwork! Learn about our new “nest shelf” program and what we’ve seen so in the field so far.
Summer is fully upon us as well as all of our feathered friends! You may have heard those classic lyrics, “it’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy,” but is it really easy living this time of year? Well, if you’re a grad student like us or any other sort of student, you might answer “yes!” […]
Hi, everyone, Project Phoebe here with our June Fieldwork Update! It has been a wildly busy field season so far. We started our work this spring hoping to monitor 20 or so nests. Instead, we found nearly 40 nests! WOW! We owe you all a huge thanks for your support and an especially huge thank […]
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 […]
