The 6th season of the Boulder Chickadee Study comes to a close
With the banding of our final mountain chickadee nest at the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station this morning, the 6th season of the Boulder Chickadee Study comes to an end. Thanks to the hard work of Haley, Nikki, Sara, Will, Ajay, Olivia, Athena, and Macy as well as our numerous study participants this was our largest season yet with 83 nests monitored (64 of which were successful), 488 eggs, and 347 chicks banded. The numbers don't add up because sometimes nests are abandoned and sometimes eggs don't hatch, especially in places with active hybridization like Boulder County. It was a great season and everyone is ready for a break before we start winter field work at the MRS later this year. Stay tuned for a forthcoming publication analyzing data from 477 whole genomes from birds in the Boulder Chickadee Study as well as exciting behavioral results!