Scientists have taken to egg swapping in the hopes of
reinvigorating the ailing population of streaked horned larks in
Washington state. The streaked horned lark is a small bird
native to both western Washington and Oregon currently on the
candidate list of endangered specied according to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service. The Washington population of the bird has
decreased significantly in recent years to due a lack of genetic
diversity and inbreeding. To turn this trend around wildlife
biologists are taking healthy eggs from Oregon’s Willamette
Valley and swapping them with the sickly eggs from native
Washington larks. The hope is to inject the population with some
much needed healthy new blood and to revive this species on the
brink. Thus far the project seems to be working, as many of the
test mothers have taken to their adopted young as if they were
their own, but only time will tell if it’s enough to save the
species.