Lauren Whitenack
@laurenwhitenack.bsky.social
PhD candidate studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology | University of Nevada, Reno
she/her/hers
laurenwhitenack.com
Photos my own unless otherwise noted.
Local activism to make birding accessible and welcoming to all people 💜
she/her/hers
laurenwhitenack.com
Photos my own unless otherwise noted.
Local activism to make birding accessible and welcoming to all people 💜
Pinned
Hey everyone 👋 I’m new to Bluesky so here’s a bit about me!
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
I am looking for a postdoc to work in our long-term system of food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The expected start is April 2026. Please see details here: chickadeecognition.com/positions
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
POSITIONS
default description
chickadeecognition.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I am looking for a postdoc to work in our long-term system of food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The expected start is April 2026. Please see details here: chickadeecognition.com/positions
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
Streaked Flycatchers (Myiodynastes maculatus) are large flycatchers native to Central and S. America. On first glance they appear rather drab, but they have beautiful cinnamon tails and stunning facial markings. While they mostly eat insects, they are also known to eat fruit and even small lizards 🪶
October 3, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Streaked Flycatchers (Myiodynastes maculatus) are large flycatchers native to Central and S. America. On first glance they appear rather drab, but they have beautiful cinnamon tails and stunning facial markings. While they mostly eat insects, they are also known to eat fruit and even small lizards 🪶
Birding is for everyone! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ We had such an incredible time representing the Northwest Nevada Bird Alliance (formerly Lahontan Audubon Society) at Reno's Pride celebration this year! Huge shout out to our incredibly talented artist Lauren Estrada for creating our banner!
September 9, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Birding is for everyone! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ We had such an incredible time representing the Northwest Nevada Bird Alliance (formerly Lahontan Audubon Society) at Reno's Pride celebration this year! Huge shout out to our incredibly talented artist Lauren Estrada for creating our banner!
Do you like baby birds? Fun photos and stories about chickadees in my latest guest post at Wing Beat, the blog of the @amornith.bsky.social. This post accompanies our recent paper on postnatal dispersal and recruitment in mountain chickadees 🪶
americanornithology.org/hatch-early-...
americanornithology.org/hatch-early-...
Hatch early and eat well: Patterns of juvenile dispersal and recruitment in Mountain Chickadees from a long-term study - American Ornithological Society
Being a fledgling is difficult—and dangerous. The vast majority (~80 percent) of young birds do not survive this stage, succumbing to predation or starvation. What might give a vulnerable fledgling a ...
americanornithology.org
September 4, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Do you like baby birds? Fun photos and stories about chickadees in my latest guest post at Wing Beat, the blog of the @amornith.bsky.social. This post accompanies our recent paper on postnatal dispersal and recruitment in mountain chickadees 🪶
americanornithology.org/hatch-early-...
americanornithology.org/hatch-early-...
An intense look from a very tiny northern pygmy-owl (Glaucidium gnoma). These owls weigh less than an American robin (~70g)! They are unusual among the owls because they are diurnal, meaning they hunt and are most active during the daytime. They prey mainly on small songbirds and mammals. #birds
September 2, 2025 at 11:54 PM
An intense look from a very tiny northern pygmy-owl (Glaucidium gnoma). These owls weigh less than an American robin (~70g)! They are unusual among the owls because they are diurnal, meaning they hunt and are most active during the daytime. They prey mainly on small songbirds and mammals. #birds
Cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera) males shoveling around in the mud at a wetland in Reno, NV. Many ducks' bills contain small comb-like structures called lamellae, allowing them to sift out mud or non-food particles and eat the larger invertebrate food items such as crustaceans or molluscs.
August 31, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera) males shoveling around in the mud at a wetland in Reno, NV. Many ducks' bills contain small comb-like structures called lamellae, allowing them to sift out mud or non-food particles and eat the larger invertebrate food items such as crustaceans or molluscs.
A bright male prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) peaking out at the end of a branch in Chatham, NC. This species is one of only 2 warbler (Parulidae) species that nest in tree cavities (the other is Lucy's warbler). They primarily use holes excavated by downy woodpeckers! #birds #photography
August 30, 2025 at 1:07 AM
A bright male prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) peaking out at the end of a branch in Chatham, NC. This species is one of only 2 warbler (Parulidae) species that nest in tree cavities (the other is Lucy's warbler). They primarily use holes excavated by downy woodpeckers! #birds #photography
Vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) from the Las Vegas area. One of the most stunning and brightly-colored of the New World flycatchers (Tyrannidae), this species is found from the southern United States down to Argentina. In Vegas, the males stand out like a ruby in the desert landscape 🪶
August 28, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) from the Las Vegas area. One of the most stunning and brightly-colored of the New World flycatchers (Tyrannidae), this species is found from the southern United States down to Argentina. In Vegas, the males stand out like a ruby in the desert landscape 🪶
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
Today 14 scientific societies in #ecology #evolution and #marineScience are publishing the results of a survey that finds negative impacts of federal policies on food security, flood mitigation, infectious disease preparedness, and wildlife conservation: 🧪👩🔬 www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...
August 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Today 14 scientific societies in #ecology #evolution and #marineScience are publishing the results of a survey that finds negative impacts of federal policies on food security, flood mitigation, infectious disease preparedness, and wildlife conservation: 🧪👩🔬 www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...
Have you ever been judged this harshly by a bird? Curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) from southern Nevada. Rare to the area but a couple individuals are regularly spotted. The thrasher diversity in the North American Southwest is incredible. #birds
August 25, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Have you ever been judged this harshly by a bird? Curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) from southern Nevada. Rare to the area but a couple individuals are regularly spotted. The thrasher diversity in the North American Southwest is incredible. #birds
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
Nice blog by @laurenwhitenack.bsky.social about her recent paper on phenological flexibility in mountain chickadees.
communities.springernature.com/posts/mounta...
communities.springernature.com/posts/mounta...
Mountain chickadees are flexible in their breeding timing - but early breeding is best
Animals living in highly variable or changing environments face a challenge: each year, conditions during the reproductive season may be different. Do animals such as mountain chickadees living in har...
communities.springernature.com
August 24, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Nice blog by @laurenwhitenack.bsky.social about her recent paper on phenological flexibility in mountain chickadees.
communities.springernature.com/posts/mounta...
communities.springernature.com/posts/mounta...
The collared aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus) is a small toucan from Central and South America. Like other species of toucans, collared aracaris nest in tree cavities excavated by large woodpeckers. They eat fruit and insects, but are also known to eat the eggs and young from other birds’ nests. 🪶
August 21, 2025 at 4:43 AM
The collared aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus) is a small toucan from Central and South America. Like other species of toucans, collared aracaris nest in tree cavities excavated by large woodpeckers. They eat fruit and insects, but are also known to eat the eggs and young from other birds’ nests. 🪶
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
We’re deeply disappointed negotiations for a global plastics treaty have ended without a final agreement.
Over the past 3 years, the momentum has been undeniable. The world now understands, plastic is a full lifecycle problem that demands systemic solutions, & that its health impacts are profound.
Over the past 3 years, the momentum has been undeniable. The world now understands, plastic is a full lifecycle problem that demands systemic solutions, & that its health impacts are profound.
August 20, 2025 at 2:12 AM
We’re deeply disappointed negotiations for a global plastics treaty have ended without a final agreement.
Over the past 3 years, the momentum has been undeniable. The world now understands, plastic is a full lifecycle problem that demands systemic solutions, & that its health impacts are profound.
Over the past 3 years, the momentum has been undeniable. The world now understands, plastic is a full lifecycle problem that demands systemic solutions, & that its health impacts are profound.
🚨 DEI BANS - Sent to me by a colleague in Ohio at an orientation. As a graduate TA, it’s that time of year where I’m participating in and facilitating orientations for various university courses and initiatives. DEI hasn’t been banned at my institution yet but this NEEDS to be a wake up call. SPREAD
August 20, 2025 at 6:52 PM
🚨 DEI BANS - Sent to me by a colleague in Ohio at an orientation. As a graduate TA, it’s that time of year where I’m participating in and facilitating orientations for various university courses and initiatives. DEI hasn’t been banned at my institution yet but this NEEDS to be a wake up call. SPREAD
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
Amazing: Birds may have a previously unrecognized ability to switch sexes. #ornithology
‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests
Survey of five Australian avians finds numerous discordant individuals, including a genetically male bird that had laid an egg
www.science.org
August 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Amazing: Birds may have a previously unrecognized ability to switch sexes. #ornithology
My 4th chapter was published today! Using 11 years of data on mountain chickadees, we showed that lay dates and clutch sizes were repeatable. We found variation among individual females in how much they shifted their lay dates year to year based on climate. 🪶
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Individual repeatability and plasticity of reproductive phenology in a resident montane bird - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Phenological plasticity involves the ability of organisms to adjust the timing of life history events such as reproduction in response to different environmental conditions. Global climate change can ...
link.springer.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:22 AM
My 4th chapter was published today! Using 11 years of data on mountain chickadees, we showed that lay dates and clutch sizes were repeatable. We found variation among individual females in how much they shifted their lay dates year to year based on climate. 🪶
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
I have a semi-leucistic Black-capped Chickadee that comes to my backyard fountain once or so a year, and I saw that one a few weeks ago, but this BCCH that appeared yesterday is the real deal for Leucism. #birding
August 18, 2025 at 2:43 AM
I have a semi-leucistic Black-capped Chickadee that comes to my backyard fountain once or so a year, and I saw that one a few weeks ago, but this BCCH that appeared yesterday is the real deal for Leucism. #birding
Gorgeous male blue-chested hummingbird (Polyerata amabilis) from Gamboa, Panamá 🇵🇦 #birds #panamabirds
August 18, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Gorgeous male blue-chested hummingbird (Polyerata amabilis) from Gamboa, Panamá 🇵🇦 #birds #panamabirds
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
100 years of July temperature anomalies over land areas through 2025...
Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
August 17, 2025 at 12:48 PM
100 years of July temperature anomalies over land areas through 2025...
Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
I had the privilege of visiting the St Louis Zoo while in town for the #AOS25 conference and…THEY HAVE KING PENGUINS!!! They are so much SMALLER than I thought they were! What incredible creatures perfectly suited for their rapidly vanishing Antarctic habitat. Protect them now while we can! #birds
August 16, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at #AOS2025 about individual plasticity in breeding timing in mountain chickadees using 12 years of data on individually marked birds! Find me in the Behavioral Responses to Climate session at 4:15PM. Come for the baby bird pictures, leave with knowledge about plasticity!
August 13, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at #AOS2025 about individual plasticity in breeding timing in mountain chickadees using 12 years of data on individually marked birds! Find me in the Behavioral Responses to Climate session at 4:15PM. Come for the baby bird pictures, leave with knowledge about plasticity!
Mountain chickadees are resident birds found in montane conifer forests of Western North America. They are known for their exceptional spatial memory, which allows them to recover tens of thousands of seeds they have hidden throughout the forest in order to survive winter. ❄️🌲🏔️
#addBirder #birds
#addBirder #birds
August 7, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Mountain chickadees are resident birds found in montane conifer forests of Western North America. They are known for their exceptional spatial memory, which allows them to recover tens of thousands of seeds they have hidden throughout the forest in order to survive winter. ❄️🌲🏔️
#addBirder #birds
#addBirder #birds
Hey everyone 👋 I’m new to Bluesky so here’s a bit about me!
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
August 7, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Hey everyone 👋 I’m new to Bluesky so here’s a bit about me!
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
I am an ecology PhD student studying mountain chickadee breeding ecology 🐦
My current research is focused on how insect food availability affects bird reproductive success 🪲
In my free time, I love hiking and birding in the mountains 🏔️
Reposted by Lauren Whitenack
New paper from the lab by @laurenwhitenack.bsky.social
showing short-distance postnatal dispersal and that fledgling mass and fledging time are associated with recruitment success in mountain chickadees.
academic.oup.com/auk/advance-...
showing short-distance postnatal dispersal and that fledgling mass and fledging time are associated with recruitment success in mountain chickadees.
academic.oup.com/auk/advance-...
Postnatal dispersal and drivers of successful recruitment in resident Poecile gambeli (Mountain Chickadee)
Abstract. Many animals disperse from their natal sites as juveniles to settle in new locations where they may eventually breed. Estimating distances of suc
academic.oup.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:05 PM
New paper from the lab by @laurenwhitenack.bsky.social
showing short-distance postnatal dispersal and that fledgling mass and fledging time are associated with recruitment success in mountain chickadees.
academic.oup.com/auk/advance-...
showing short-distance postnatal dispersal and that fledgling mass and fledging time are associated with recruitment success in mountain chickadees.
academic.oup.com/auk/advance-...