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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Winter Diet Of Montezuma Quail In Arizona And New Mexico, Oscar E. López-Bujanda, Alberto Macías-Duarte, Reyna A. Castillo-Gámez, Angel B. Montoya Sep 2022

Winter Diet Of Montezuma Quail In Arizona And New Mexico, Oscar E. López-Bujanda, Alberto Macías-Duarte, Reyna A. Castillo-Gámez, Angel B. Montoya

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Investigating the diet composition of Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) is fundamental for unveiling how food resources limit the species’ population size and may provide relevant tools for their harvest and habitat management. The objective of this research was to determine the composition and geographic variation of the winter diet of the Montezuma quail in Arizona and New Mexico, USA, from quail crops harvested during the hunting seasons of 2008–2017. In addition, we used beta regression analyses to determine the effect of environmental factors and ecological variables (annual mean precipitation, annual mean temperature, landscape diversity, diet diversity, time of …


Food Caching Decisions In Canada Jays (Perisoreus Canadensis), Robert J. Martin Jun 2021

Food Caching Decisions In Canada Jays (Perisoreus Canadensis), Robert J. Martin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Food scarce periods pose serious challenges for birds, particularly when those periods coincide with demanding life history stages such as overwintering. For resident birds in the Northern hemisphere, resource scarcity typically occurs simultaneously with winter conditions. In order to combat these compounded stressors, some species cache food to ensure a reliable supply of resources. Food caching is the storing of food items for subsequent retrieval and consumption after some delay. Canada Jays (Perisoreus canadensis) are year-round residents of the North American boreal forest and some high elevation areas in the United States, and cache food to combat resource …


Avian Attractiveness To Vertically Polarized Light, Aurora Belle Kuczek Jan 2021

Avian Attractiveness To Vertically Polarized Light, Aurora Belle Kuczek

Senior Projects Spring 2021

It is well-known that many animal species can detect polarized light cues of water and water-like objects in the visible and ultraviolet range. However, studies investigating if birds can see polarized light in field-based settings are rare. Furthermore, no studies have yet been conducted to understand avian attractiveness to vertically polarized light, nor have studies considered other natural polarizers of light such as tree sap. I designed a choice-field experiment to investigate if birds can detect, and are attracted to vertically polarized light. First, I cut six pieces of clear vinyl into a foot by 54 inches. I painted each …


Demographic, Spatial, And Epigenetic Response Of The Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia Motacilla) To Shale Gas Development, Mack W. Frantz Jan 2019

Demographic, Spatial, And Epigenetic Response Of The Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia Motacilla) To Shale Gas Development, Mack W. Frantz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

My study centered on a bioindicator songbird, the Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), hereafter waterthrush, an organism that co-occurs in both forested and aquatic habitat across the aquatic-terrestrial interface. This enabled the opportunity to quantify demographic, spatial, and epigenetic (i.e., DNA methylation) responses in a highly forested watershed of the Central Appalachians, the areas that have undergone the most rapid transformations over the last decade from unconventional shale gas development and activities. I organized my dissertation into 4 parts (Part 1: Introduction, Part 2: Louisiana Waterthrush Demography, Part 3: Spatial Assessment of Louisiana Waterthrush Foraging, Part 4: Louisiana Waterthrush …


Stable Isotopes Reveal Opportunistic Foraging In A Spatiotemporally Heterogeneous Environment: Bird Assemblages In Mangrove Forests, Christina Buelow, April Reside, Ronald Baker, Marcus Sheaves Nov 2018

Stable Isotopes Reveal Opportunistic Foraging In A Spatiotemporally Heterogeneous Environment: Bird Assemblages In Mangrove Forests, Christina Buelow, April Reside, Ronald Baker, Marcus Sheaves

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Environmental heterogeneity can foster opportunistic foraging by mobile species, resulting in generalized resource and habitat use. Determining species’ food web roles is important to fully understand how ecosystems function, and stable isotopes can provide insight into the foraging ecology of bird assemblages. We investigated flexibility of food choice in mangrove bird assemblages of northeast Australia by determining whether species’ carbon and nitrogen isotopic values corresponded to foraging group classification described in the literature, such as groups of species that are omnivorous or insectivorous. Subsequently, we evaluated foraging group isotopic niche size, overlap, degree of individual specialization, and the probable proportions …


Foraging Habitat Of Pileated Woodpeckers In Relation To A Managed Landscape On The Hoopa Valley Reservation, Northwestern California, Dawn Michelle Blake Jan 2018

Foraging Habitat Of Pileated Woodpeckers In Relation To A Managed Landscape On The Hoopa Valley Reservation, Northwestern California, Dawn Michelle Blake

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is associated with older forest stages—larger diameter trees and snags for roosting, nesting and foraging, but they also use managed forests. The Hoopa Reservation is approximately 37,000 ha of mostly forested area with an array of seral stages. The Hoopa Tribe manages timber, and explicitly provides habitat for woodpeckers according to the Tribe’s Forest Management Plan (FMP). No formal study has assessed woodpecker habitat at Hoopa, and habitat has not been well described in this region. I captured eleven woodpeckers and outfitted them with transmitters between 2009 and 2014, and I used resource …


Foraging Patterns And Population Density Of The Buff-Bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia Yucatanensis) In Hidalgo County, Tx, Megan I. Villarreal Dec 2016

Foraging Patterns And Population Density Of The Buff-Bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia Yucatanensis) In Hidalgo County, Tx, Megan I. Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this investigation was to examine the foraging patterns and population density of the Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis ) in Hidalgo County, TX. Previous studies showed that hummingbirds use flowers displaying traditional bird pollination (ornithophilous) characteristics: reddish coloration, tubular corolla, and extended anthers. Observation sessions noted type and frequency of flowering species utilized for nectar, characteristics, and number of individuals seen in each area. Amazilia yucatanensis showed higher use of ornithophilous flowers. Significant results found: f-ratio 5.45 > p-value (0.05) 3.24. Two highly utilized species showed the expected 20–40% sucrose content expected in ornithophilous flowers. Population density per …


Displaying To Females May Lower Male Foraging Time And Vigilance In A Lekking Bird, Sarah A. Cowles, Robert M. Gibson Nov 2015

Displaying To Females May Lower Male Foraging Time And Vigilance In A Lekking Bird, Sarah A. Cowles, Robert M. Gibson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Males of many species use courtship behavior to attract mates. However, by doing so males may face the associated costs of increased energetic expenditure, reduced foraging time, and elevated predation risk. We investigated the costs of display in lekking male Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). We used lek-wide scan sampling to study how males allocated time among courtship display (‘‘dancing’’), agonism, foraging, and inactivity in relation to female numbers both within and across days. We also addressed the limited attention hypothesis and estimated visual attentiveness by videotaping 13 males and scoring head turns during these different activities. We found that the …


Winter Behavior And Ecology Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis): Home Ranges, Habitat Use, And Effect Of Weather On Foraging Behavior, Todd J. Weinkam Jan 2013

Winter Behavior And Ecology Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis): Home Ranges, Habitat Use, And Effect Of Weather On Foraging Behavior, Todd J. Weinkam

Online Theses and Dissertations

Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) are widespread across eastern North America, but populations appear to be susceptible to extreme winter weather. Declines in population following cold winters in states like Kentucky suggest the need to better understand winter-specific habitat requirements and behavioral responses to inclement weather. My objectives were to 1) describe the size and habitat composition of the home ranges of wintering bluebirds, and 2) examine the effects of weather (i.e., temperature, wind speed, and snow presence) on habitat occupancy, group size, and foraging behavior. My study was conducted at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, …


Experimental Evidence For The Interplay Of Exogenous And Endogenous Factors On The Movement Ecology Of A Migrating Songbird, Emily B. Cohen, Frank R. Moore, Richard A. Fischer Jul 2012

Experimental Evidence For The Interplay Of Exogenous And Endogenous Factors On The Movement Ecology Of A Migrating Songbird, Emily B. Cohen, Frank R. Moore, Richard A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

Movement patterns during songbird migration remain poorly understood despite their expected fitness consequences in terms of survival, energetic condition and timing of migration that will carry over to subsequent phases of the annual cycle. We took an experimental approach to test hypotheses regarding the influence of habitat, energetic condition, time of season and sex on the hour-by-hour, local movement decisions of a songbird during spring stopover. To simulate arrival of nocturnal migrants at unfamiliar stopover sites, we translocated and continuously tracked migratory red-eyed vireos (Vireo olivaceus) throughout spring stopover with and without energetic reserves that were released in two replicates …


Diving Behavior And Identification Of Sex Of Breeding Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula Arctica), And Nest-Site Characteristics Of Alcids On Petit Manan Island, Maine, Sarah M. Spencer Jan 2012

Diving Behavior And Identification Of Sex Of Breeding Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula Arctica), And Nest-Site Characteristics Of Alcids On Petit Manan Island, Maine, Sarah M. Spencer

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

During 2008 – 2009, we quantified foraging behavior of adult Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) by deploying time-depth recorders (TDRs) on 18 adults and collected morphological measurements from 40 adults nesting on Petit Manan Island, Maine. Dive data were successfully retrieved from 5 birds foraging for 14 days in 2008, and 8 birds foraging for 18 days in 2009. Pooling across all birds, a total of 8,097 dives were recorded, with peaks in activity during 0400-0800 and 1600-2000, and no diving between 2100 and 0400. Mean (± SD) dives/bird/day was 276.4 (± 84.7), with dives grouped into bouts lasting …


Foraging-Related Activity Of Bald Eagles At A Washington Seabird Colony And Seal Rookery, James L. Hayward, Joseph G. Galusha, Shandelle M. Henson Mar 2010

Foraging-Related Activity Of Bald Eagles At A Washington Seabird Colony And Seal Rookery, James L. Hayward, Joseph G. Galusha, Shandelle M. Henson

Faculty Publications

From 1980 to 1998, Washington's Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) population increased at an annual rate of 10. Over the same time period, foraging activity of Bald Eagles at marine bird breeding colonies also increased. From 1993 to 2008, we observed foraging-related behavior of Bald Eagles on Violet Point, Protection Island. This island hosts more than 70 of the breeding seabirds in Washington's inner seaways and serves as an important rookery for harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). We found that (1) eagles landed more frequently in seal haul-out (beach) areas than in gull-nesting (non-beach) areas of Violet Point, and that subadult eagles …


Food And Energy Intake Rates Of Wintering Whooping Cranes Foraging On Two Selected Food Items, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Jay T. Nelson, R. Douglas Slack Jan 1997

Food And Energy Intake Rates Of Wintering Whooping Cranes Foraging On Two Selected Food Items, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Jay T. Nelson, R. Douglas Slack

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Number, mass, and potential energy of food items consumed by wintering whooping cranes (Grus americana) foraging on blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and woltberry (Lycium carolinianum) fruit were estimated and compared between 2 consecutive winter periods. Mass consumed was determined through field observations by quantifying the number of items taken per unit time and the average, or modal, weight of each food item determined from collections. Gross energy intake was determined by calculating the product of mass consumed times gross energy (kJ/g) of each food item. Potential energy retained was calculated by determining metabolizable energy …


Assessment And Choice: An Operant Simulation Of Foraging In Patches, John P. Roche, D. Alan Stubbs, William E. Glanz Nov 1996

Assessment And Choice: An Operant Simulation Of Foraging In Patches, John P. Roche, D. Alan Stubbs, William E. Glanz

Biology and Ecology Faculty Scholarship

Pigeons were presented with an operant simulation of two prey patches using concurrent random ratio schedules of reinforcement. An unstable patch offered a higher initial reinforcement probability, which then declined unpredictably to a zero reinforcement probability in each session. A stable patch offered a low but unvarying reinforcement probability. When the reinforcement probability declined to zero in a single step, the birds displayed shorter giving-up times in the unstable patch when the ratio between the initial reinforcement probabilities in the unstable and stable patches was greater and when the combined magnitude of the reinforcement probabilities in the two patches was …


Information Content Of Prey Odor Plumes: What Do Foraging Leach's Storm Petrels Know?, Larry Clark, Pankaj Shah Jan 1992

Information Content Of Prey Odor Plumes: What Do Foraging Leach's Storm Petrels Know?, Larry Clark, Pankaj Shah

Larry Clark

Electrophysiological responses to odor have been recorded for concen­ trations as low as 0.01 ppm for Manx shearwaters Puffinus puffinus and Black-footed Albatrosses Diomedea nigripes, indicating that relative to most birds, procellariiforms have a keen sense of smell (Wenzel and Sieck 1972, cf.clark 1991; Clark and Smeraski 1990; Clark and Mason 1989). Such acuity is not unexpected, given the extensive development of the olfactory anatomy of these species (Bang and Wenzel 1986). Field observations indi­ cate that Procellariiformes use their sense of smell to locate food (Grubb 1972; Hutchison and Wenzel 1980; Lequette, Verheyden and Jouventin 1989). -_ However, it …


Incubation Energetics Of The Laysan Albatross, Ted N. Pettit, K A. Nagy, Hugh I. Ellis, G Causey Whittow Jan 1988

Incubation Energetics Of The Laysan Albatross, Ted N. Pettit, K A. Nagy, Hugh I. Ellis, G Causey Whittow

Biology: Faculty Scholarship

The energy expenditure of incubating and foraging Laysan Albatross (Diomedea immutabilis, mean body weight 3.07 kg) was estimated by means of the doubly-la- belled water technique. During incubation, the energy expenditure was similar to that of resting birds that were not incubating an egg. The energy expenditure of foraging albatross (2072 kJ/day) was 2.6 times that of resting birds. It was concluded that the energy expenditure of the tropical Laysan Albatross was not less than that of species foraging over cold, high-latitude oceans. An energy budget compiled for an incubating pair of albatross revealed that the energy expenditure of the …


Thermal Constraints On Foraging Activity Of Adult Starlings, Larry Clark Jan 1987

Thermal Constraints On Foraging Activity Of Adult Starlings, Larry Clark

Larry Clark

The operative temperature of the environment was estimated for starlings using hollow, unheated taxidermic mounts. On average, adults foraging in full sun were characterized by shorter foraging bouts than those adults foraging in full shade. Simultaneous observations of air temperature, operative temperature, and the foraging duration of adults indicated that air temperature was a poor predictor of the maximum length of a foraging bout. The operative temperature of the environment was not correlated to the maximum and mean length of foraging bouts for temperatures below 31.5 ~ C, but was negatively related to maximum and mean foraging duration for values …