Emily Kwong

Junkos in the wildlands outside L.A.

have longer, more slender beaks, whereas the junkos within Los Angeles, including the birds on the UCLA campus, have shorter, stubbier beaks.

But the shapes of the city bird beaks changed during COVID.

And her team thinks it has to do with campus closures.

When campus is full of people, the trash cans are, you know, full of food waste and stubbier beaks could be good for foraging in that environment.

It is a tricky question.

We usually think of evolution happening over a much longer period than just two years.

But Pam and Ellie say it is possible, especially because they saw the bird beaks change again once campus opened back up.

Junkos born after campus got busy had stubbier, shorter beaks.

Anytime.

Please come back on the show.

Yeah, that was fun.

You can hear more of Juana on Consider This, NPR's afternoon podcast about what the news means for you.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and Kai McNamee.

It was edited by Patrick Jaron-Wantanonan.

And I'm Emily Kwong.

Thank you for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

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Hey, Shortwavers, Emily Kwong here.