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Humans are causing 2 different species of songbird to mate

By Mark Brodie
Published: Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 12:41pm
Updated: Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 4:08pm

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Hybrid chickadees
Georgy Semenov
A black-capped (left) and mountain chickadee (right) at University of Colorado at Boulder’s Mountain Research Station.

Human activity appears to be causing two related species of songbirds to mate.

The research finds disturbances to the habitats of the black-capped and mountain chickadees are leading to this hybridization in the Mountain West.

The Show spoke with Kathryn Grabenstein — a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Colorado at Boulder who worked on the study — and asked what led her to look into this hybridization among these different kinds of birds.

Kathryn Grabenstein
Jeff Grabenstein
Kathryn Grabenstein

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