Hear what’s possible for the future of birds and other wild animals.
This winter, Wild Animal Initiative is launching a field research project to understand how varying environmental conditions such as water availability, noise level, and land use affect the welfare of the house sparrow.
In phase one of this study, sound data is critical. Our research team will record audio and video at a variety of sites where house sparrows live, and then analyze how different calls and chirps correspond with the birds’ expected welfare states. The goal is to determine whether vocalizations are a valid indicator of welfare, so that scientists around the world could use similar methods in their future studies.
It’s the first study of its kind and will help advance the emerging field of wild animal welfare science.
By welfare, we mean the aggregate quality of an individual’s subjective experiences over a given time period. This can also be called “well-being” or “quality of life,” and it’s a highly neglected research area in the biological sciences. While other fields have historically asked questions about how to preserve species or habitats, wild animal welfare science asks questions about what life is like for individual animals, and how we can help them responsibly and at scale.
The house sparrow research project has the potential to produce groundbreaking data that will be useful to scientists in numerous fields, including urban ecology, animal behavior, and climate science. We expect the data to be relevant to scientists who study additional species too, such as other sparrows or songbirds.
We hope research like this will influence policies on urban development and wildlife management so that animal welfare is taken into consideration.
We at Wild Animal Initiative envision a future in which common animals like house sparrows are understood and valued as individuals. A world where people want to help wild animals and they’re equipped with the research they need to do so responsibly. Each research project like this one takes us one step closer.
Invest in a better future for wild animals.
There’s much more work to be done. When you donate to Wild Animal Initiative, you make it possible for us to continue building an academic field dedicated to critical research in wild animal welfare.
Wild Animal Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating science that helps wild animals. Your gift today supports the house sparrow project and other critical research for wild animals in 2024.
