Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 17 april 2019
Celeb or stranger? Study weighs Americans’ interest in birds

By MALCOLM RITTER lar. Bigger bodies, colorful
AP Science Writer plumage and regular visits
NEW YORK (AP) — Whoop- to birdfeeders helped. Spe-
ing cranes, common ravens cies that served as mas-
and peregrine falcons are cots for professional sports
among the celebrities of teams reached celebrity
the sky in the eyes of Ameri- status, but it wasn’t clear
cans, even those who’ve whether being a mascot
never laid eyes them. encouraged popularity or
The ruffed grouse or purple the other way around.
martin? They’re like friends The results also turned up
you might chat with. The some surprises. “People
wrentit and the Abert’s to- seem to have an inordi-
whee are like the neighbors nate fascination with owls
you don’t talk to much. As we couldn’t account for
for the Hammond’s fly- entirely in our analysis,”
catcher and the Brewer’s Schuetz said.
sparrow, Americans don’t Jeffrey Gordon, president
care much about them at of the American Birding As-
all. That’s the word from a sociation, called the study
new study that aimed to “a fascinating framework
define “a range of relation- for trying to understand
ships between people and how people are relating to
birds” across the United birds.” “I hope they’re able
States, said Justin Schuetz, In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male Greater Sage Grouse perform their mating ritual on a lake to use it to help people
one of the authors. near Walden, Colo. appreciate what’s right in
Results appear in a paper Associated Press their own backyard,” he
released Monday by the natural range of each spe- So birds in the “celebrity” live. As with the other cat- said. “Most of us just aren’t
Proceedings of the Nation- cies and how often it is category are those that egories, the researchers keyed in to what is literally
al Academy of Science. sighted in specific places, attracted more Google couldn’t tell whether the at our doorstep.”
Schuetz, a biologist and based on a national data- attention than one would searchers’ opinions of these David Ringer, chief net-
independent researcher in base. expect from how often familiar birds were positive work officer for the Nation-
Bath, Maine, did the work One key question was they’re seen, and whose or negative. al Audubon Society, also
with Alison Johnston, who’s whether the Google data popularity extended out- Then came birds classi- found the work interesting.
affiliated with Cornell Uni- revealed more interest in side of their natural range. fied as “neighbors,” whose “It’s great to see how much
versity in Ithaca, New York each species than one They have “a reputation few Google searches were we know and love some
The project included study- would expect in various beyond where they live,” confined to where they species, and it’s provoca-
ing Google searches per- locations, based on how Schuetz explained. live. Finally there were the tive to see how much we
formed from 2008 to 2017 often it is sighted in those Next came the “friends or “strangers,” birds that got still have to discover,” he
to learn about what Ameri- places. Another question enemies” category, which little Google interest any- wrote in an email. “I hope
cans think about 621 bird was how much the interest included species that get where. that many bird ‘strangers’
species. Researchers knew in each species was lim- more Google attention The research also turned will become ‘friends,’ and
where each search came ited to its natural range, or than expected, but mostly up other insights into what ‘neighbors’ will turn into
from. They also knew the spilled out beyond it. in the states where they makes a species popu- ‘celebrities.’”q

Alaska ice melt guessing game

ends on earliest date recorded

NENANA, Alaska (AP) — Residents since 1917 have earlier this month, reports
Early ice melt has provided purchased tickets record- said. Crowds gathered
a record finish to an an- ing guesses of the exact Saturday to watch as it be-
nual Alaska guessing game day and time when the came clear the ice would
that’s been going on for melting ice would sepa- soon break up, the news-
102 years, officials said. rate and cause the marker paper reported.
The 2019 Nenana Ice Clas- to fall. The event began as The contest’s winner will be
In this March 13, 2019, file photo, Jessie Royer passes icebergs in
open water on Norton Sound as she approaches Nome, Alaska, sic finished Sunday at 12:21 a bet among railroad en- notified in a few weeks, ac-
in the Iditarod trail sled dog race. a.m. when a tripod mount- gineers and has paid out cording to contest officials
Associated Press ed on the frozen Tanana more than $14 million in in the town about 57 miles
River fell over as ice on the its history. This year thou- (92 kilometers) southwest of
river broke up, marking the sands paid $2.50 per ticket, Fairbanks.q
end of the contest, The An- with unusually warm spring
chorage Daily News report- temperatures across Alas-
ed Sunday. ka causing a rush of last-
April 14 is six days earlier minute purchases. A store
than the previous record of and gas station in Nenana
April 20 set in 1940 and in each sold at least 2,000
1998, according to the In- tickets and ordered extras,
ternational Arctic Research according to reports.
Center at the University of A team began monitoring
Alaska-Fairbanks. the tripod 24 hours a day