Urbanization Not All Gloom and Doom for Bird Life SNOHOMISH, WA (N3) - A long-term bird research project is pecking some holes in the conventional wisdom about the environmental effects of suburban sprawl. This work is happening on the fringes of greater Seattle. In some cases, researchers found new subdivisions supported more bird life than the forests they replaced. KPLU's Tom Banse reports on lessons homeowners and developers can learn from this study.

To learn more about the birds of the northwest, check out BirdNote, heard every morning at 8:58 a.m. on KPLU.

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For the past ten years, University of Washington Professor John Marzluff and his wildlife science students have surveyed birds on the urban fringes of Seattle. They count birds, monitor nests, record behavior, and catch and band birds to track survival rates.

Sound: [Grad student Dave Oleyar inspects squawking grosbeak "That's a nice brood patch right there..." squawk-squawk]

Marzluff says he got interested in how urban sprawl affects bird populations immediately after moving from Boise to a house out in hills north of Seattle.

John Marzluff: "Moving here it was obvious what the major issue was for biodiversity in the western part of Washington. I wasn't forestry, it was urbanization. So we immediately started to get some projects going."

Right on queue, developers broke ground on two major subdivisions within half a mile of Marzluff's house. His team monitored the before and after. They also established 25 other research plots across the changing landscape of suburbia. Today, Marzluff can draw a surprising conclusion about where native songbirds thrive the best.

John Marzluff: "The diversity peaks in these moderately settled subdivisions, what we think of as sprawl. That was really a surprise. We expected that sprawl would be the worst thing for birds, but in fact it increases diversity."

Marzluff points out openings, some edges, some forest remnants, and urban features are all close together here. He says that variety of habitat in the typical leafy suburb promotes the feathered riches.

The finding jives with what longtime neighborhood resident Milton Dick sees beyond his five acre lot. Dick says it seems like there are more birds around.

Milton Dick: "Lots of birds here, all kinds. A lot of people feed em. A lot of people have bird feeders down here. The birds come back, year after year you see em."

TB: Now, near you though all sorts of McMansions are popping up and new development...

Milton Dick: "Don't seem to bother em, no. The deer and the coyotes, they go all down through here."

The researchers are quick to add there's good development and there's bad development. And what's good for birds doesn't necessarily hold for other critters. But staying with the bird topic, Marzluff has some welcome news for lazy spouses. He says property owners can help out by neglecting their yards a bit.

John Marzluff: "People typically like fancier looking shrubs and they like things to be very neat. Birds like native shrubs and messy things. So be messy! Don't cut all the grass. Let some of it grow up and fall over so a junco can nest under it. The native ferns - and salmonberry especially - is an important species [providing food and nesting substrate for native birds]."

Marzluff also counsels tolerance for wild coyotes and bobcats. Their presence limits where house cats can safely roam, which is a good thing as far as native birds are concerned.

On the other hand, Marzluff has nothing but scorn for broad, perfectly trimmed lawns.

Sound: [lawnmower sfx]

He calls these subdivisions "Scrapervilles," as in all habitat scraped clean. The decade-long tracking study found it makes a big difference when developers set aside even a little bit of forest, space the houses, maybe create a pond.

Sound: [Song sparrow]

That's a song sparrow, a bird that's showing it can adapt to urbanization. The Wilson's warbler is the opposite. It's in sharp decline. Two of the bright yellow warblers draw near when Marzluff plays their recorded calls. [trill] He's set up nets in a forest reserve, but his targets for banding evade capture.

Sound: [Wilson's warbler evades Marzluff] "Yeah I saw two flying... ugghh. That's not fair."

The National Science Foundation footed most of the bill for the first decade of this suburban bird tracking study. U-Dub researcher John Marzluff is 50 years old now. He hopes to keep the project going for the rest of his professional career, which could be another 20 years. I'm Tom Banse near Snohomish, Washington. © Copyright 2010, N3