E32. Wildfire smoke is blanketing more of the map every year, and it turns out a smoky sky changes everything for birds, from how they breathe to whether we can find them at all. Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, Research Scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is back to walk Scott through what all that haze is doing to the birds living in it.

In this episode:

Birds don't breathe the way we do, and that single fact shapes everything about how smoke hits them
Stay, shift, or go: the framework for what a bird actually does when the air turns toxic
When the birds go quiet, it isn't always because they left

Data collection for Project Phoenix is open now through the end of November. If you're on the West Coast, you can sign up at projectphoenix.study and log a 10-minute count from wherever you are, even your own window.

All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:

Northern Yellow Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516692
Black-Crowned Night Heron audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML225814
Tufted Titmouse audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100712
Cooper’s Hawk audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94518
Bornean Orangutan audio contributed by John MacKinnon, ML82019
American Robin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML206448