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The chestnut-collared longspur spends the winter in Mexico and the southern United States; the Canadian prairies are its breeding grounds. (Jeremy Price), Author provided (no reuse) This study was funded by Cenovus Energy, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund, and the University of Manitoba Clayton Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. Grassland songbirds have been steadily decreasing for decades in Canada . In addition to having to endure strenuous migration every year, they are confronted with the symphonies of oil extraction and drilling once they finally reach their prairie breeding grounds. This noise pollution may increase risks to species that are already experiencing significant population declines by further reducing their abundance , interfering with predator–prey dynamics and acoustic communication , and acting as a physiological stressor . Our recent study investigating the effects of oil noise on grassland songbirds found that they were not necessarily bothered by noise from oil wells that were operating non-stop during the whole breeding season. Rather, short-term drilling noise had a large impact on reproductive success , likely due to the unpredictability and suddenness of operating machinery. Longer noise exposure is […]
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