Douglas Bird

Associate Professor of Anthropology

323B Carpenter Building
University Park, PA 16802
dwb5537@psu.edu
814-863-1096

Research Summary

Livelihood decisions and habitats, exploring the dynamics of human subsistence practices, their role in ecosystem function, and their archaeological implications in Australia and Western North America.

Huck Affiliations

Publication Tags

Archaeology Ecosystem Hunting Ecology Desert Human Behavior Foraging Climate Subsistence Hunters Altruism Effect Interaction Population Growth Western Australia History Habitat Society Grassland Hunter Gatherer Economy Lizards Fire Regime Population Fires

Most Recent Papers

Variability in the organization and size of hunter-gatherer groups

Douglas Warren Bird, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Brian F. Codding, David W. Zeanah, 2019, Journal of Human Evolution on p. 96-108

Subsistence Transitions and the Simplification of Ecological Networks in the Western Desert of Australia

Stefani A. Crabtree, Douglas Warren Bird, Rebecca Bliege Bird, 2019, Human Ecology on p. 165-177

Mobility, subsistence, and technological strategies of early Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Bolivian Altiplano

José M. Capriles, Juan Albarracin-Jordan, Douglas W. Bird, Steven T. Goldstein, Gabriela M. Jarpa, Sergio Calla Maldonado, Calogero M. Santoro, 2018, Quaternary International on p. 190-205

Aboriginal burning promotes fine-scale pyrodiversity and native predators in Australia's Western Desert

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Douglas Warren Bird, Luis E. Fernandez, Nyalanka Taylor, Wakka Taylor, Dale Nimmo, 2018, Biological Conservation on p. 110-118

Mosaics of fire and water

David W. Zeanah, Brian F. Codding, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Douglas W. Bird, 2017, Australian Archaeology on p. 2-19

Human behaviour as a long-term ecological driver of non-human evolution

Alexis P. Sullivan, Douglas Warren Bird, George H. Perry, 2017, Nature Ecology and Evolution

Shellfishing and human evolution

Richard G. Klein, Douglas W. Bird, 2016, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology on p. 198-205

The roots of the question

Douglas W. Bird, 2016, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology on p. 149-157

Martu ethnoarchaeology

Brian F. Codding, David W. Zeanah, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Christopher H. Parker, Douglas W. Bird, 2016, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology on p. 166-176

People, El Niño southern oscillation and fire in Australia

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Douglas W. Bird, Brian F. Codding, 2016, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Most-Cited Papers

Behavioral ecology and the future of archaeological science

Brian F. Codding, Douglas W. Bird, 2015, Journal of Archaeological Science on p. 9-20

Aboriginal hunting buffers climate-driven fire-size variability in Australia's spinifex grasslands

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Brian F. Codding, Peter G. Kauhanen, Douglas W. Bird, 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 10287-10292

Provisioning offspring and others

Brian F. Codding, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Douglas W. Bird, 2011, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences on p. 2502-2509

Niche construction and Dreaming logic

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Nyalangka Tayor, Brian F. Codding, Douglas W. Bird, 2013, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Human behaviour as a long-term ecological driver of non-human evolution

Alexis P. Sullivan, Douglas Warren Bird, George H. Perry, 2017, Nature Ecology and Evolution

Conservation or co-evolution? Intermediate levels of aboriginal burning and hunting have positive effects on kangaroo populations in Western Australia

Brian F. Codding, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Peter G. Kauhanen, Douglas W. Bird, 2014, Human Ecology on p. 659-669

The hierarchy of virtue

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Brooke Scelza, Douglas W. Bird, Eric Alden Smith, 2012, Evolution and Human Behavior on p. 64-78

A landscape architecture of fire

Douglas W. Bird, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Brian F. Codding, Nyalangka Taylor, 2016, Current anthropology on p. S65-S79

Shellfishing and human evolution

Richard G. Klein, Douglas W. Bird, 2016, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology on p. 198-205

People, El Niño southern oscillation and fire in Australia

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Douglas W. Bird, Brian F. Codding, 2016, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

News Articles Featuring Douglas Bird

Dec 18, 2019

Playing with tools—and weapons—was a ‘normal’ part of prehistoric childhood

Prehistoric children may have been cherished by their parents—but until recently, they’ve been neglected by many archaeologists, who assumed that childhood is simply about toys and games. Now, a new study adds to the growing literature that prehistoric children were hard workers, who learned from an early age to use the weapons and tools that would help them with the rigors of adulthood.

Full Article

Feb 08, 2019

Aboriginal Hunters’ Fires Help Restore an Australian Desert

A study of how the Martu shaped their land presents an example where humans seem to benefit an environment perceived as wilderness.

Full Article