Credit: Photo by Mike Prince, made available through Wikimedia Commons
CORVALLIS, Ore. - One of birdwatching s most commonly held and colorfully named beliefs, the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, is more a fun myth than a true phenomenon, Oregon State University research suggests.
Owing its moniker to an Arizona rest area, the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, often shortened to PPTE, has for decades been cited as a key driver of behavior, and rare-species-finding success, among participants in the multibillion-dollar recreational birding business - an industry that has gotten even stronger during a pandemic that s shut down so many other activities.
But a study led by an OSU College of Science graduate student shows that the PPTE - which says that after a rare bird is spotted somewhere, birders flock to the area and then find additional rare species at an accelerated rate - is not borne out by the data.