23.4: Scientist Spotlight - Scott Taylor

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Boasting the characteristics of small, round, and fluffy, the chickadee is an endearingly cute bird. Or should we say- are cute birds. The word “chickadee” refers to a group of birds in the Paridae family. Of the 59 species in this family, there are 7 species of chickadee. Deferring to the name “chickadee” rather than each species’ specific (and/or scientific) name is understandable. To the untrained eye, these birds are almost indistinguishable from one another. For example, Poecile atricapillus has a black cap and bib surrounding its white cheeks, hence the name black-capped chickadee. Unlike P. atricapillus, Poecile hudsonicus has a brown cap. Why do we care about such minute differences? Politics (and climate change).

In 1927, the Maine legislature designated the “chickadee” as the state bird. However, both black-capped and boreal chickadees reside in Maine. Aware of the two resident chickadee species, Nick Lund from Maine Audubon alerted local press. Representative Betty Austin then proposed a bill to specify Maine’s official state bird (Pindell 2019). In the end, the Maine Legislature decided to do nothing, but perhaps a warming climate will make the decision for them. At the University of Colorado Boulder, evolutionary biologist Dr. Scott Taylor is studying bird hybrid zones, areas where two species’ ranges overlap, allowing interbreeding to occur. Because birds are sensitive to temperature, climate change is leading to shifts in species distributions, with many species moving northward. Different species shift at different rates, however, so climate change also alters species overlap and hybrid zones. One example of this is the climate-mediated northward shift of the chickadee hybrid zone in southeastern Pennsylvania. The importance of accurately identifying hybridization among species will only increase as climate change causes further shifts in species distribution (Taylor et al. 2014; 2014).

Dr. Scott Taylor says that none of his “mentors in high school, college, or as a graduate student or postdoc were visible members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” and it is crucial that this problem be solved for others. By being a visible member of the community, Dr. Taylor hopes to inspire students who may be struggling to see themselves as scientists because of their under-represented identity in STEM.

A small, fluffy bird with a brown cap on its head sits on a branch. There appears to be snow in the background.

“Boreal Chickadee” by Daniel Arndt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

A small, fluffy bird with a black cap on its head sits on a branch. There appears to be green foliage in the background.

“Black-capped Chickadee” by Colin Durfee is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

References

Scientist Spotlight Inspiration from Project Biodiversity

American Ornithological Society. (2019). Researchers identify previously unknown hybrid zone between hummingbird species. <https://americanornithology.org/researchers-identify-previously-unknown-hybrid-zone-between-hummingbird-species/>. Accessed November 11, 2021.

Taylor, S.A., Larson, E.L., & Harrison, R.G. (2014). Hybrid zones: Windows on climate change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(7), pp. 398-406.

Taylor, S.A., White, T.A., Honchahka, W.M., Ferretti, V., Curry, R.L., & Lovette, I. (2014). Climate-mediated movement of an avian hybrid zone. Current Biology, 24(6), pp. 1-6.

Pindell, J. (2019). Maine’s state-bird debate is ruffling some feathers. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/03/maine-state-bird-debate-ruffling-some-feathers/GpdBUYGIeY27IeMdhfBQgN/story.html> Accessed November 11, 2021.