The amount of urban background noise is affecting the songs that birds sing to attract mates.
Birds exposed to artificial traffic noise were observed to change their tune to compete with the urban noise.
"[F]indings suggest that birds must make difficult trade-offs in urban areas and places where traffic and industrial noises threaten to drown them out. Either they sing less appealing songs or tones in an effort to rise above the din, or they sing the songs that make them sound appealing at the risk of not being heard at all.
'If females can hear all song types equally well, they will go for the sexy ones, but if they cannot hear the sexy ones well anymore, then they might just go for the songs they can still hear,' said Wouter Halfwerk, a behavioral ecologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. 'It could very well be that noise pollution is interfering with reproductive decisions by females.'"
Read the full story: Birds Are Changing Their Tune
Study: Silence Raises Property Values
A Florida study found homes near recently built sound walls saw a rise in value.
‘Quiet Parks’ Highlight Importance of Silence for Public Health
The initiative recognizes parks and other areas that preserve natural quiet in a world full of noise pollution.
Estonian Capital Launches Noise Reduction Action Plan
European Union cities are required to create ‘noise maps’ and strategic plans for reducing environmental noise.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
Non-stop party: Chicago voters weigh permanent festival grounds
A stable place for bleachers, stages and drainage may streamline the setup and teardown of large events.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority