Those little red hummingbird feeders are driving the bird's evolution

In D.C. the president’s Big Beautiful Bill is facing a contentious fight in the Senate. Governor Ferguson recently signed over 400 bills into law.  But there was other bill related news in recent weeks and we went to see someone who has been right in the middle of it.  Alejandro Rico Guevara is one of the foremost researchers on hummingbird bills. He has spent years studying how hummingbirds use their beaks to feed and fight. But his latest research looked at how human actions seem to be driving a high-speed example of evolution in hummingbird bills.  Alejandro is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, and he’s the co-author of a study published last month in Global Change Biology. It shows how hummingbird feeders have influenced the size and shape of hummingbird bills in a matter of decades. Guest: Alejandro Rico Guevara, Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Washington Relevant Links: NPR: Backyard feeders changed the shape of hummingbird beaks, scientists say Global Change Biology: Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbird Smithsonian: California’s Hummingbirds Have Changed Their Beaks in Response to Backyard Feeders, Study Finds Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.