What do you want to know about the natural world? For more than two decades, Bay Nature teamed up with the naturalists at the California Center for Natural History to answer readers’ questions about nature in this regular column.
Still have questions? Email letters@baynature.org
What a seemingly simple, but deceptively complex question! Ultimately, perhaps, the least speculative—but not completely satisfactory—answer is that manzanitas inherited this trait from their ancestors. There is compelling evidence that manzanitas (genus Arctostaphylos) are derived from a group of trees, … Read more
Our temperate climate here in the Bay Area means that most inhabitants don’t have to hibernate. Hibernation is a form of adaptive hypothermia, a continuum of responses to climatic variations that allow an animal to save energy by temporarily abandoning … Read more
A: The oldest rocks in the Bay Area are metamorphic rocks associated with the granitic rocks at Point Reyes, Bodega Head, and Montara Mountain. They have traveled a long way in space and time to get here. They all occur … Read more
Back when I used to teach children about nature, I often relied on a “hook” to keep them focused. Slapping myself with stinging nettle was a great attention grabber, but banana slugs worked just as well and didn’t hurt as … Read more
Black bears, Ursus americanus, are found in many forested regions of California. In the Sierra Nevada they occur in all forests down to about 1,000 feet. In the northwest part of the state, they may even roam beaches that border … Read more
Animal habits, or behavior, can indeed change due to the presence of nonnative plants. Two examples come to mind. Fennel is a plant native to the Mediterranean region of Europe which became an invasive weed in the Bay Area subsequent … Read more
Q: What’s the difference between bird songs and bird calls? [L.R., Santa Clara A: Bird song, usually produced by the male, is an advertisement of territory and breeding availability, and, in most species, is limited to the breeding season. As … Read more
At the precise moment we are looking at them, flowers are sending light rays back to us. But not all of them are sending us the same kind of light in the same way. The different colors are different wavelengths … Read more
That depends on what you mean by hibernation. All but one of the Bay Area’s 13 species of bats are capable of hibernating; the exception is the abundant Mexican free-tailed bat. But according to bat rehabilitator Patricia Winters, “No bat … Read more
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