You may see UBC students around Lytton attaching trackers to sparrows for their study about migration and hybridization. Lytton plays an important role as the breeding area for two subspecies of the migratory White-Crowned Sparrows.
Here's a description of their study:
We are a small team of students from the University of British Columbia studying White-
crowned Sparrows. White-crowned Sparrows are migratory songbirds that travel
thousands of kilometres each year. Each spring, these birds migrate to Lytton to breed,
and in the fall, they migrate south to spend the winter in warmer places.
In British Columbia, there are two subspecies of White-crowned Sparrows. Typically,
one breeds to the west of Lytton, and the other to the east. Lytton is a unique place
where the ranges of these two subspecies overlap. Here, they not only live side by side
but also occasionally hybridize, producing hybrid offspring.
Our research explores how this hybridization might influence the birds’ migration and
survival. We are particularly interested in whether hybrid sparrows migrate differently
than the parent subspecies—for example, if they leave at different times or follow
different routes—which could affect their chances of survival.
To study this, we collect a DNA sample from each bird determine their subspecies, and
fit the birds with tiny radio transmitters. The transmitters emit a signal that is picked up
by receiver stations located across the continent. When a bird flies near one of these
stations, we get a record of its date, time, and location, allowing us to map out its
migration.
We are really excited to be working in Lytton. This is a unique area to study
hybridization and migration in White-Crowned Sparrows.