Benjamin Freeman
@benjaminfreeman.bsky.social
Biologist. Mountain Bird Lab PI. Climate change. Species interactions. Asst Prof @GeorgiaTech. #RapYourAbstract #MountainBirdNetwork
and in conclusion:
Even if you have spent years saying a project is impossible, sometimes you are wrong & it is possible. And what a great feeling to figure out something you wanted to know but thought was unattainable.
(plus Pac NW old growth = spectacular)
the end. thanks co-authors!
Even if you have spent years saying a project is impossible, sometimes you are wrong & it is possible. And what a great feeling to figure out something you wanted to know but thought was unattainable.
(plus Pac NW old growth = spectacular)
the end. thanks co-authors!
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
and in conclusion:
Even if you have spent years saying a project is impossible, sometimes you are wrong & it is possible. And what a great feeling to figure out something you wanted to know but thought was unattainable.
(plus Pac NW old growth = spectacular)
the end. thanks co-authors!
Even if you have spent years saying a project is impossible, sometimes you are wrong & it is possible. And what a great feeling to figure out something you wanted to know but thought was unattainable.
(plus Pac NW old growth = spectacular)
the end. thanks co-authors!
while the Canada Jay seems to be on the escalator to extinction and has declined markedly - this is v worrisome for this species
photo by Mason Maron
photo by Mason Maron
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
while the Canada Jay seems to be on the escalator to extinction and has declined markedly - this is v worrisome for this species
photo by Mason Maron
photo by Mason Maron
this species specific info generates a lot of cool insights
like Townsend's Warblers and Varied Thrushes are getting much more common at high elevation (exemplifying the overall pattern)
photos by BC bird guru Melissa Hafting (@bcbirdergirl on Instagram)
like Townsend's Warblers and Varied Thrushes are getting much more common at high elevation (exemplifying the overall pattern)
photos by BC bird guru Melissa Hafting (@bcbirdergirl on Instagram)
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
this species specific info generates a lot of cool insights
like Townsend's Warblers and Varied Thrushes are getting much more common at high elevation (exemplifying the overall pattern)
photos by BC bird guru Melissa Hafting (@bcbirdergirl on Instagram)
like Townsend's Warblers and Varied Thrushes are getting much more common at high elevation (exemplifying the overall pattern)
photos by BC bird guru Melissa Hafting (@bcbirdergirl on Instagram)
modeled results for all common species -- because probably everyone likes looking at abundance vs. elevation plots as much as I do (I really do)
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
modeled results for all common species -- because probably everyone likes looking at abundance vs. elevation plots as much as I do (I really do)
and we found that species aren't really changing their ranges much.
but they are becoming more abundant at higher elevations (optimum elevation shifted upslope ~125 m on average)
and many species showed stable patterns
(Harold with the great artwork!)
but they are becoming more abundant at higher elevations (optimum elevation shifted upslope ~125 m on average)
and many species showed stable patterns
(Harold with the great artwork!)
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
and we found that species aren't really changing their ranges much.
but they are becoming more abundant at higher elevations (optimum elevation shifted upslope ~125 m on average)
and many species showed stable patterns
(Harold with the great artwork!)
but they are becoming more abundant at higher elevations (optimum elevation shifted upslope ~125 m on average)
and many species showed stable patterns
(Harold with the great artwork!)
so what did we find?
while, we knew things had gotten warmer since the early 1990s, and estimated temperature isotherms have moved ~150+ m upslope
while, we knew things had gotten warmer since the early 1990s, and estimated temperature isotherms have moved ~150+ m upslope
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
so what did we find?
while, we knew things had gotten warmer since the early 1990s, and estimated temperature isotherms have moved ~150+ m upslope
while, we knew things had gotten warmer since the early 1990s, and estimated temperature isotherms have moved ~150+ m upslope
so then we did the point counts. old growth Pacific NW forests are simply glorious. Will always remember standing 15' up on a mossy downed log and seeing a bobcat pad across a different mossy log just 30' to my side.
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
so then we did the point counts. old growth Pacific NW forests are simply glorious. Will always remember standing 15' up on a mossy downed log and seeing a bobcat pad across a different mossy log just 30' to my side.
but usually easy to relocate survey points with very high accuracy (we think). sometimes I even found placards next to where I sited the modern point count location. Louise later told me these marked their locations, and that most (but clearly not all) had been collected at end of project
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
but usually easy to relocate survey points with very high accuracy (we think). sometimes I even found placards next to where I sited the modern point count location. Louise later told me these marked their locations, and that most (but clearly not all) had been collected at end of project
sometimes hard to deal with the resident megafauna
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
sometimes hard to deal with the resident megafauna
hard to see trash even in the old growth forest patches (keep the balloons in your hands folks)
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
hard to see trash even in the old growth forest patches (keep the balloons in your hands folks)
easy to find the old growth stands in a matrix of secondary forests (remember the stand maps)
hard to walk along decommissioned roads covered with thick alder saplings for kilometers.
hard to walk along steep hillsides through blowdowns
hard to walk along decommissioned roads covered with thick alder saplings for kilometers.
hard to walk along steep hillsides through blowdowns
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
easy to find the old growth stands in a matrix of secondary forests (remember the stand maps)
hard to walk along decommissioned roads covered with thick alder saplings for kilometers.
hard to walk along steep hillsides through blowdowns
hard to walk along decommissioned roads covered with thick alder saplings for kilometers.
hard to walk along steep hillsides through blowdowns
And so we did it. I worked with the splendid Julian Heavyside to do bird surveys in June 2023.
Here's the romantic side of fieldwork:
It was a last hurrah for me, a love letter to the big trees and mountains of the Pacific NW before my family moved to Atlanta in July.
Here's the romantic side of fieldwork:
It was a last hurrah for me, a love letter to the big trees and mountains of the Pacific NW before my family moved to Atlanta in July.
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
And so we did it. I worked with the splendid Julian Heavyside to do bird surveys in June 2023.
Here's the romantic side of fieldwork:
It was a last hurrah for me, a love letter to the big trees and mountains of the Pacific NW before my family moved to Atlanta in July.
Here's the romantic side of fieldwork:
It was a last hurrah for me, a love letter to the big trees and mountains of the Pacific NW before my family moved to Atlanta in July.
and the data was even already digitized! (maybe the best part?)
so we chatted. Louise told me all about their sampling. She sent me their maps. We convinced ourselves this project was doable.
so we chatted. Louise told me all about their sampling. She sent me their maps. We convinced ourselves this project was doable.
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
and the data was even already digitized! (maybe the best part?)
so we chatted. Louise told me all about their sampling. She sent me their maps. We convinced ourselves this project was doable.
so we chatted. Louise told me all about their sampling. She sent me their maps. We convinced ourselves this project was doable.
I said this for years. I even led a survey in 2021 to establish baseline data for the future. But in Jan 2023 I decided to do a big literature survey of mountain bird surveys. And on day 3 of wading through hundreds of Google Scholar tabs I found this paper and went crazy (alone, in my office)
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I said this for years. I even led a survey in 2021 to establish baseline data for the future. But in Jan 2023 I decided to do a big literature survey of mountain bird surveys. And on day 3 of wading through hundreds of Google Scholar tabs I found this paper and went crazy (alone, in my office)
I'm from Seattle, and love the Pacific NW.
when I came to UBC as a postdoc in 2016, I would talk about my studies on remote Andean mountains and say "but nobody knows what is happening here in Pacific NW mountains there simply isn't good baseline data isn't that wild"
when I came to UBC as a postdoc in 2016, I would talk about my studies on remote Andean mountains and say "but nobody knows what is happening here in Pacific NW mountains there simply isn't good baseline data isn't that wild"
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I'm from Seattle, and love the Pacific NW.
when I came to UBC as a postdoc in 2016, I would talk about my studies on remote Andean mountains and say "but nobody knows what is happening here in Pacific NW mountains there simply isn't good baseline data isn't that wild"
when I came to UBC as a postdoc in 2016, I would talk about my studies on remote Andean mountains and say "but nobody knows what is happening here in Pacific NW mountains there simply isn't good baseline data isn't that wild"
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
tropical baby birds do the darnedest things
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
tropical baby birds do the darnedest things
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
nice scientific writing alert -- check out the first line from this new Science paper by @gilbert-lab.bsky.social & Brent Pease
"in many parts of the world, the night is no longer dark"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"in many parts of the world, the night is no longer dark"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
August 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
nice scientific writing alert -- check out the first line from this new Science paper by @gilbert-lab.bsky.social & Brent Pease
"in many parts of the world, the night is no longer dark"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"in many parts of the world, the night is no longer dark"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
good for office reading too!
August 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
good for office reading too!
cool vignette! similar things from Brazil, where Bates talks about how everyone tried to convince him that hawkmoths could change into hummingbirds and vice versa
May 23, 2025 at 1:49 PM
cool vignette! similar things from Brazil, where Bates talks about how everyone tried to convince him that hawkmoths could change into hummingbirds and vice versa
the one thing we did find is a latitudinal gradient in abundance change at range limits -- more southern species are getting common at BOTH range limits; more northern species are getting rare at BOTH range limits
May 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
the one thing we did find is a latitudinal gradient in abundance change at range limits -- more southern species are getting common at BOTH range limits; more northern species are getting rare at BOTH range limits
you might think N American species are getting common at their north range limit and rare at their south range limit as temps get warmer
but you would be wrong
new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
but you would be wrong
new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
May 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
you might think N American species are getting common at their north range limit and rare at their south range limit as temps get warmer
but you would be wrong
new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
but you would be wrong
new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
April 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
ok this one is pretty good too
April 2, 2025 at 7:39 PM
ok this one is pretty good too
new favorite eBird comment
April 2, 2025 at 5:58 PM
new favorite eBird comment