Dee Boersma, a University of Washington professor of biology, has been studying Magellanic penguins for thirty-four years and has discovered within that time evidence of natural selection within that population. (Science Daily: How natural selection acted on one penguin species over the past quarter century)
There's hanging about with the bird club to watch the little aviators with binoculars but Dee Boersma goes out there to catch them because it's necessary to band them to track them year after year. In that way she and her team can observe changes in behavior and identify which of their birds were manifesting it. Imagine, if you will, just how much work is necessary to observe every aspect of the behavior of many, many birds for the purpose of correlating those behaviors to identify patterns.
So, wanna know how hard it is to fall in love with them?
Take your pick:
- San Francisco Zoo
Dee Boersma has dedicated her life to studying and understanding them and we so much respect her passion for life.
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