birds

Since 2000, the rapid spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) in North America has killed hundreds of millions of birds and more than 1,000 humans. House wrens, bluejays, crows, robins, bluebirds, and titmice have been the most vulnerable.

To date, research has failed to show why species vary in their response to west nile. It is known, however, that mosquitoes feed preferentially on some bird species. These birds then become vectors for amplifying the presence of the virus.

For humans, living next to vegetation within a city increases the risk of infection. In particular, the carrier mosquito, Culex pipiens, is known to shift its feeding to humans when robins disperse from urban areas in late summer.

One cause of the decline in many grassland birds may be farmers' increased use of exotic, cool-season grasses. Agricultural grasses don't bunch and leave dirt spaces that allow the birds to move around on the ground. Researchers at Virginia Tech are also looking at how insect populations differ between alien and native grass species.

Tree-of-Life Research Project: "With this study, we learned two major things. First, appearances can be deceiving. Birds that look or act similar are not necessarily related. Second, much of bird classification and conventional wisdom on the evolutionary relationships of birds is wrong."  Sushma Reddy, Bucksbaum Postdoctoral Fellow at The Field Museum.

The scientific names of dozens of birds will have to be changed, and biology textbooks and birdwatchers' field guides will have to be revised.