Walking her dogs every evening in Meridian, Wanna Know Idaho listener Morgan Keating began to wonder: what’s up with all these seagulls? And suddenly, birds of all kinds were everywhere. (Cue the cliche Hitchcock montage.)
Morgan works in downtown Boise, and became acutely aware of the geese that roam the streets. Then, she remembered hearing reports on the city of Nampa’s crow problem. Three instances of bird takeovers in the Treasure Valley left Morgan curious, which soon led her to ask Wanna Know Idaho:
"Crows in Nampa, so many geese in Boise, and a flock of seagulls every night in Meridian at dusk -- has the Treasure Valley gone to the birds?"
As it turns out, there’s not a simple answer to the question. Each bird population has a different relationship with the changing human population and landscape of the Valley.
But Heidi Ware-Carlisle at Boise State’s Intermountain Bird Observatory was able to explain to Morgan why she seems to be seeing more of these birds around.
We want you to hear the answer too. Listen here.
What are you curious about? Submit what you want to know below and you could be featured in an upcoming episode.
Until next time, stay curious Idaho!
Thanks to Boise music project ‘Up is the Down is The’ for the awesome theme music. Check the project out on Spotify and Bandcamp. Sound effects from Mike Koenig.
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