SAN ANTONIO — Urban development typically has a negative impact on bird communities. But a new study shows that isn’t the case in San Antonio.
“There’s a lot of green spaces in San Antonio,” said UTSA wildlife biology professor Dr. Jennifer Smith.
Growing up in the U.K., Smith has always enjoyed nature — especially bird watching.
“I was always very lucky that I had wildlife and birds all around me,” said Smith.
Smith brings students out to a garden on campus so they can observe nature for themselves.
“The birds hop on these little ports here and they can feed here,” said Smith.
More than two years, UTSA graduate student Amanda Lamberson examined how urbanization has impacted bird populations. She's exploring if bird feeding would increase the amount of bird sightings and attract a variety of species.
“San Antonio hasn’t been studied for this before,” said Lamberson. “It’s also unique being like it’s a huge urban city. It’s probably one of the fastest growing in terms of population. It’s situated in a major flyway for migrating species.”
With the help of her faculty adviser and citizen volunteers, she placed bird feeders in 36 backyards across San Antonio, using various bird feeds to observe what types of birds emerged.
“In response to feeding, we found an increase in abundance of birds,” said Smith. “Which was really interesting. But we didn’t see any significant effect on diversity.”
Lamberson and her team counted more than 6,000 birds from 40 different species during the study, proving there’s still a variety of birds even in the suburbs.
“If you’re kind of in a lush area, maybe you’re next to like a big green space or park, you may end up seeing a greater variety of birds," Lamberson said.
Bird feeding is a billion-dollar industry. Lamberson hopes this study jumpstarts more bird research in the region and encourages folks to maintain their feeders.
“Putting food out does increase the number of birds in a local area,” Lamberson said. “You might still get a bunch of cardinals and house finches.”