Unfortunately I believe this bias applies far more widely than to just birds .. including for example children in school.
Perry Edwards
North Vancouver?
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On Apr 22, 2025, at 09:52, Pamela Zevit via groups.io <pamela.zevit@...> wrote:
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I seem to recall species like song sparrow being studied here, so at least some ¡°LBJs¡± have gotten attention.
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¡°The study, by a team of researchers from the University of Toledo and Ohio University, examined 55 years¡¯ worth of scientific papers on North American birds and found they show a dramatic bias toward more noticeable species ¡ª those
who are more aesthetically pleasing or ¡°flashy,¡± have wider breeding ranges, and whose ranges overlap with nearby universities. And yes, that includes red-winged blackbirds. Of the more than 27,000 published papers analyzed for this study, red-winged blackbirds
were the second-most researched species, with an astonishing 499 publications. That¡¯s second only to the bright blue-and-white tree swallow, the subject of 597 papers (perhaps because their adaptability to backyard nest boxes makes them so easy to study).
That leaves many species ¡ª the ¡°drab¡± ones, as the study puts it, and the ones with smaller ranges ¡ª understudied, if studied at all. A rather plain but sweet-looking species called the Philadelphia vireo wasn¡¯t studied a single time
during this 55-year period, according to the analysis. This bias can create a negative feedback loop, the paper warns, where the most-studied species keep getting studied and the ¡°drab¡± species fade into the background, forgotten by both science and the public.
The ¡°lack of research on visually unremarkable and unfamiliar birds may ultimately result in their ¡®societal extinction,¡¯¡± researchers warn.¡±
Pamela Zevit RPBio | Biodiversity Conservation Planner
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(Kwikwetlem), q??¨»:n????n?
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(Tsawwassen) and x?m?¦Èk??y??m
(Musqueam). The knowledge, traditions and ongoing stewardship by these communities is integral to the long-term conservation of biodiversity in Surrey.
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