CCSiC Fellow Spotlight: Reflections on Project Phoebe

Community scientists play an essential eole in studying urban wildlife. As our world becomes increasingly urbanized—over half the world’s human population currently lives in cities, with that percentage expected to grow to 68% by 2050— cities are often home to fewer animal species than natural areas. The species that do live in cities face a variety of challenges that may limit their survival and reproduction, including exposure to chemical pollutants, new predators, and high temperatures. Scientific study of how animals cope with city life is critical to conserving species. By virtue of living side-by-side with urban wildlife, community scientists have uniquely valuable insights into how animals cope with city life, and they are well-positioned to collect data on this topic.

Introduction to Project Phoebe

I am an Ecology PhD student collaborating with two other graduate students (Ian Ramshorn Haliburton and Jacob Johnson) on “Project Phoebe,” a research effort investigating the effects of high temperatures, pollution, and other challenges associated with city life on a local songbird species, the Black Phoebe (see Image 1). Black Phoebes are small, insect-eating songbirds that build cup-shaped nests out of mud and grass (see Image 2). These nests must be built on a vertical surface under an overhang, meaning that the awnings of houses and underside of bridges provide perfect spots for a Phoebe nest, and these birds often live alongside us in our cities. Community scientists contributed to and helped shape Project Phoebe from its conception, and they will be integral to its successful completion.

Expanding community scientist involvement in multiple stages of the scientific process 

As a Community and Citizen Science in Conservation Fellow, I have been working to integrate the contributions of community scientists into Project Phoebe at multiple stages of the scientific process. This year, I have focused on 1) collecting community member observations of Black Phoebe and urban bird behavior, 2) setting up a platform for community members to report sightings of Black Phoebe nests and adult birds with colored identification bands, and 3) organizing workshops where community scientists learn how the data they collect contributes to science and conservation.

Community scientist observations have shaped Project Phoebe’s research directions

Since the conception of Project Phoebe, community members have shared a wide variety of interesting Phoebe observations with us, and these observations have shaped the direction of our research. Black Phoebes have received little study by scientists, meaning that we have limited information on what types of predators they interact with, what they eat, and much more. Although the scientific community may be lacking information about Phoebes, the people who live alongside them are often experts, with numerous insights about these amazing birds. For example, during our first field season, eggs and chicks were disappearing from many of our Phoebe nests, and we did not know the cause. Several community members with nests on their houses reported to us that they had watched California Scrub Jays repeatedly raiding Phoebe nests over hours and days, indicating that Scrub Jays are important predators of Phoebes. Understanding what factors shape Scrub Jay predation of Phoebe nests has become a focus of Project Phoebe during our second field season. This is just one example of many where insights from community members have led us to investigate new questions. This year, I have been soliciting conservations with community members about their Phoebe observations and what questions these observations raise in their minds. 

Community scientist nest reporting was integral to successful data collection

Community members report sightings of Phoebe nests, and of adult Phoebes that have been banded (a common avian research method that involves giving each bird a unique combination of tiny colored leg bands). Locating Phoebe nests is one of the most time-consuming aspects of our research, and reports by community members allow us to find and monitor a much larger sample of nests than we would otherwise be able to. In many cases, Phoebes nest on private property, and community members have also played a key role in helping us access these sites. Similarly, community members play an important role in allowing us to track the movement and activities of banded adult Phoebes. For instance, one community member consistently sends me updates on the whereabouts of a banded Phoebe near Tanzanite Community Park in Sacramento (Image 3), and her updates helped us track this bird after her first nesting attempt failed. This year, I more formally leveraged community scientist involvement in nest and banded bird reporting by creating reporting forms on our website: https://projectphoebe.com/?page_id=576. When community members make a report, I follow up with them to share what we have learned about the bird or nest, and how their report contributed to our understanding. 

Where do the data go: Giving community scientists feedback on their impact

As a Fellow, I learned about feedback loops, where community members contribute data and in turn receive some kind of feedback about how it was used. Without feedback loops, community scientists may be left with uncertainty about where the data they collect ends up and whether it has meaningful impacts on science or conservation. 

In recognition of the importance of these feedback loops, one of the other Project Phoebe graduate students, Ian, and I, developed and led a workshop at Effie Yeaw Nature Center on existing community science apps—iNaturalist, eBird, and Merlin—and how the data collected contribute to science and conservation. The idea for this workshop was born out of a discussion with Sacramento County Regional Parks, who wanted to get the community more engaged in reporting observations of various plants and animals at the parks they manage. Ian and I developed walkthroughs to show participants how to use each of the apps, and then we gave examples of how the data collected are used in science and conservation globally. Finally, we discussed how Project Phoebe uses the data community members collect locally. 

Final reflections

Reflecting on the role of community scientists in Project Phoebe, I am incredibly grateful for their numerous contributions and honored that so many folks have decided that contributing to Project Phoebe is worth a bit of their time. From scales fine to broad, community scientists are essential to understanding how animals will cope with urbanization. Personally, I have found so much joy, insight, and inspiration in my conversations with community members. For anyone reading who has been involved with Project Phoebe or other community science projects, I want to sincerely thank you.