On a damp October morning, students took turns holding the birds.

They placed the little feathered bodies between their middle and index fingers so the heads were just visible. Eyes darting back and forth, the birds surveyed the scene. Some issued alarm calls in protest. Others simply rested there, their chests rising and falling.

“You guys, see if you can identify this bird,” Professor Jim Hengeveld said, holding up a bird with striking facial markings. “You see the dark and light stripes on the head, the white throat, the yellow lores…”

“Is it a white-throated sparrow?” one student answered correctly.

The students saw and heard more than 30 species that day — sparrows, tufted titmouses, wrens.

Some biologists worry that such a display of biodiversity might not be possible if habitat loss brought on by urbanization, deforestation and other factors continues at the current rate.

The new Midwest Center for Biodiversity at IU specializes in that issue. The center, announced in September and located at the Kent Farm Research Station, investigates the causes of biodiversity decline by studying birds and their natural communities.

Co-director Ellen Ketterson said the idea for the center sprang from a widely cited report from 2019 that found nearly three billion birds had disappeared from North America since 1970.

“I was just beginning to be a professional biologist at the beginning of these 50 years,” Ketterson said, “but hadn’t really appreciated how much things had changed over that period of time.”

Ketterson, a distinguished professor of biology at IU, said she noticed the study of biodiversity did not have a home on campus. She serves as co-director of the center along with research scientist Alex Jahn.

“There’s people in biology, people in O’Neill, people in the law school, people in the arts school, but bringing them together to have a collective and interdisciplinary set of people who were truly concerned about losses in biodiversity seemed like it needed to happen,” Ketterson said.

IU biology student Malaak Alqaisi, one of the undergraduates at the center, studies artificial light at night and how it affects the migratory timing of dark-eyed juncos.

She said the behavior of juncos can indicate global change more broadly.

“It’s a really good opportunity to gauge how biodiversity in the Midwest is being affected and get a global scale of it,” Alqaisi said.

Alqaisi said the center gives people from a variety of backgrounds and interests the chance to get involved in the protection of biodiversity.

“If you’re interested in anything with Midwestern biodiversity, I think this is a great place to reach out,” Alqaisi said. “It’s the start of something that can be really nice for students and the community alike.”

In terms of biodiversity in Bloomington and southern Indiana, Ketterson said the region is blessed with forested areas that are home to neotropical migratory birds. However, she said climate projections concern her.

Purdue University’s Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment predicted that by 2050, temperatures in Indiana will have increased by 5 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit compared to the state average from 1971–2000.

Ketterson said this means certain tree species will struggle to thrive in Indiana.

“I think it’s a lovely place to live right now, but I think it’s quite worrisome when you project into the future,” Ketterson said.

The center draws on a variety of specialties, such as law and media, to address the causes of biodiversity losses in the Midwest. Ketterson said the focus on the Midwest and the interdisciplinary nature of the center make it unique.

“If you have your eye on a particular set of goals and then are able to bring in all those different perspectives, I think you have the best chance of having an impact,” Ketterson said.