Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of An Honest Signal By Red-Footed Boobies Sula Sula In Response To Kleptoparasitism By Great Frigatebirds Fregata Minor, Lin Chao

Marine Ornithology

On Genovesa Island (00.3°N, 089.9°W) in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, Great Frigatebirds Fregata minor kleptoparasitize (i.e., steal food from) Red-footed Boobies Sula sula. In five of eight cases that I observed, the frigatebirds harassed the boobies until the latter regurgitated their forage, which the frigatebirds consumed. In three cases, the booby responded with a honk-like call and the frigatebirds stopped harassing. I propose that the honk is an “honest signal” by a booby having little food to divulge. Boobies loaded with forage do not honk because the call could trigger regurgitation. Thus, frigatebirds harass with escalation only non-honking boobies. The …

White-Chinned Petrel Procellaria Aequinoctialis Feeding On A Dead Dolphin, Fabio Schunck, Rita Souza, Daniel N. Donadio, Leandro Correa, Rodrigo Bicudo, Miguel Oliveira De Souza, Pedro Giovani Cunha E Silva, Elenice Dias, Evair Legal, Fabio Barata

Marine Ornithology

The White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis is an opportunistic forager that often follows fishing boats to feed upon scraps or escaped/discarded fish. Although its diet in non-breeding areas is not well understood, studies of stomach contents indicate that its diet consists of fish, crustaceans, and squid. In June 2024, during a pelagic birding trip off the coast of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, a White-chinned Petrel was spotted feeding on the floating carcass of a Franciscana Dolphin Pontoporia blainvillei. This behavior has not been previously documented in the literature, online citizen science platforms, or by personal observation. We believe this to be …

First Aberrant Coloured Calonectris Shearwater Recorded In Madeira, Portugal, Pedro Nascimento, Emanuel Santos, João Gonçalves, Mayung Teixeira

Marine Ornithology

Herein, we report a Calonectris sp. shearwater with aberrant plumage, observed southwest off Madeira Island. The bird had an unusual amount of white feathering, more than has been reported so far for the genus. Both upperparts and underparts were predominantly white. Initially, we thought the bird was a leucistic Cory’s Shearwater C. borealis, but some characteristics could not be ascertained. Records of such aberrations should be published to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the subject.

Absence Of Coronavirus In Terns In The Western Indian Ocean?, Camille Lebarbenchon, Chris Feare, Christine Larose, Marie-Alice Simbi, Solenn Boucher, Audrey Jaeger, Matthieu Le Corre

Marine Ornithology

We investigated coronavirus circulation in three tern species on four islands of the Western Indian Ocean (Bird, Reunion, Europa, Juan de Nova). None of the 2019 samples tested positive by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of host-species range, ecological drivers of virus transmission, and diagnostic tools.

Nape Coloration Varies With Sex, Not Age, Among Great Shearwaters Ardenna Gravis, Ewan D. Wakefield, Anna R. Robuck, Kevin D. Powers, Robert A. Ronconi, Peter G. Ryan, David N. Wiley

Marine Ornithology

Most petrels (family Procellariidae) exhibit little or no obvious variation in plumage with age or sex, either because plumage performs no sexual function or does so in a way poorly perceptible to humans. This limits the inferences that can be made from visual observations of petrels at sea. However, it has been suggested that nape coloration of Great Shearwaters Ardenna gravis whitens with age. Here we test this supposition using observations of known-age-class individuals. We necropsied birds bycaught around Gough Island, a major breeding colony in the South Atlantic Ocean, and in Massachusetts Bay, a wintering area off the northeastern …

A Petrel Breeding Diversity Hotspot: Raivavae Island (Austral Islands, French Polynesia), With A Need For Conservation Action, Vincent Bretagnolle, Yves David, Thomas Ghestemme, Jean-François Butaud, Tehani Withers, Hadoram Shirihai, Jean-Claude Thibault

Marine Ornithology

Raivavae is a small island in the Austral Islands of French Polynesia that is surrounded by a lagoon with 28 islets. Its marine avifauna is one of the least known and least studied in French Polynesia. Overall, seabird surveys in the various Austral Islands have been extremely sparse. This study addresses this need, using both historical and recent findings. The results show high species richness, with 10 breeding procellarid species, though none are numerous. We also update the knowledge on breeding petrels from other Austral Islands (except Rapa) and discuss the consequences of these findings in terms of their conservation …

Cruising For Data: Defining The Seabird Community From Vessels Of Opportunity In Canada’S Eastern Arctic, Carina Gjerdrum, Sarah N. P. Wong, Mark L. Mallory

Marine Ornithology

Information on marine bird abundance and distribution at sea is required to identify important habitat for protection, mitigate pressures from human activities, and understand the role of seabirds in marine food webs. Arctic waters support millions of marine birds, including globally significant numbers of some species, but the remote location coupled with the financial costs of research and monitoring in this region limit our ability to quantify marine habitat use. We used standardized survey data collected from vessels of opportunity during 2007-2023 to describe the distribution and abundance of marine birds in eastern Canadian Arctic waters and to examine the …

Thick-Billed Murres Uria Lomvia At Cape Parry, Northwest Territories: Core-Use Areas, Morphometrics And Chick Diets, Rosana Paredes, Stephen, J. Insley, Sebastian Luque, Piia Kortsalo

Marine Ornithology

Cape Parry is home to the only colony of Thick-billed Murres Uria lomvia in the western Canadian Arctic, but ecological information for this small, isolated population is lacking. To address this information gap, we investigated the spatial distribution, diving behaviour, diet, and morphometrics of male and female Cape Parry Thick-billed Murres during the breeding season. We tracked 23 chick-rearing adults (seven females and 16 males) using Global Positioning System (GPS) tags with depth sensors (2021) and collected chick diet data (2021, 2022) using observations and photos. Cape Parry murres foraged relatively close to the colony (4.5 ± 3.3 km) and …

Seagrass And Mangroves As Water-Associated Bird Habitat In The Southern Red Sea Coasts Of Saudi Arabia, Jeff Bogart R. Abrogueña, Iwao Tanita, Anthony M. Doyle, Romana Roje-Busatto, Jean Rose H. Maquirang, Seerangan Manokaran, Khalid Imam, Thamer Al-Johani, Sau Pinn Woo

Marine Ornithology

Studies on water-associated bird communities within seagrass and mangrove habitats, especially in arid environments, are limited. Here, we studied a pristine mangrove forest with associated seagrass meadows in the Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI) on the southern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. Our objectives were to (1) determine the differences in the diversity and distribution of water-associated bird communities between three sampling stations—S1 (a mixture of mangroves and seagrass beds), S2 (an open coast adjacent to mangroves), and S3 (an open coast without vegetation)—and across three seasons (March for spring, July for summer, and November for …

Wire Ingestion By A Red-Billed Tropicbird Phaethon Aethereus Chick On San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico, Alberto Piña-Ortiz, Vladislav Marcuk, Salvador Gómez-Hernández, José Alfredo Castillo-Guerrero, Petra Quillfeldt

Marine Ornithology

We report the ingestion of wire by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus chick at San Pedro Mártir Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. A scat sample collected from a four- to five-week-old chick contained a copper wire ~5.0 mm in length. Biologging revealed the previous foraging trips by one of the parents, and we ascertained the diet of birds in this colony through a molecular approach. From these data, we suggest why this individual was fed wire.

Comparison Of Offspring Growth Models In Atlantic Puffins Fratercula Arctica , Katja H. Kochvar, Raul Zabala Belenguer, Pierre-Paul Bitton

Marine Ornithology

Growth of morphological traits in the offspring of many seabirds, including Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica, has typically been characterized by linear models despite displaying nonlinear patterns. We assessed the fit of six typical avian growth models to measurements of puffling mass, wing length, and tenth primary length. Across all three biometrics, the first- and second-best performing models were nonlinear (i.e., quadratic, logistic, extreme value function); these models were then used to generate separate growth curves for individual pufflings and extract easily interpretable and comparable parameter estimates. We recommend the reported models in future studies incorporating metrics of puffling growth and …

Artificial Brood Parasite Technique For Rearing Abandoned Eggs Of The Endangered Little Tern Sternula Albifrons, Masaharu Hayakawa

Marine Ornithology

The Little Tern Sternula albifrons is a ground-nesting species classified as Endangered on the Japan Ministry of the Environment's Red Data List. It may abandon its eggs owing to disturbances, a factor having a negative impact on its population trends. Successful artificial nurturing of these eggs could aid in the recovery of the species. To address this issue, I developed a ‘brood parasite' technique. The process involves taking abandoned eggs from a nest, incubating them in a facility until one day before hatching, and then covertly placing the protected eggs into other nests within the colony. By these means, foster …

Breeding Season Movements Of Aleutian Terns Onychoprion Aleuticus: Implications For Population Assessment And Monitoring, Kelly Nesvacil, Grey W. Pendleton, John P. Skinner, Susan Oehlers, Jeff Mondragon, Donald E. Lyons

Marine Ornithology

In 2017 and 2018, satellite transmitters were deployed (n2017 = 13, n2018 = 14) on Aleutian Terns Onychoprion aleuticus in two areas of Alaska, USA, to investigate breeding season movements and temporal patterns of colony activity. The effort was intended to aid in the development of a large-scale population-assessment framework. Across the two years, we observed dispersal to seven confirmed or potential (putative) colonies, none of which were previously documented, ranging in distance from 0.4 to 64.2 km from tag deployment sites. Although most terns did not associate with any known colonies during the breeding season, several individuals from the …

Technological Evolution Generates New Answers And New Ways Forward: A Progress Report From The First Decade At The Karlsö Auk Lab, Jonas Hentati-Sundberg, Per-Arvid Berglund, Agnes B. Olin, Aron Hejdström, Henrik Österblom, Astrid A. Carlsen, Quentin Queiros, Olof Olsson

Marine Ornithology

In 2008, we built an artificial nesting construction for Common Murres Uria aalge, the Karlsö Auk Lab, on an island in the Baltic Sea (Hentati-Sundberg et al., 2012). The aim was to create an environment in which the birds could be readily monitored and accessed, and technological equipment easily installed. In this current paper, we report on murre recruitment to the Auk Lab over the first decade, assess the performance of the birds living on the lab compared to natural cliff ledges, and revisit the original research questions. We conclude that the tremendous developments in sensor technology (video surveillance, automated …

Decrypting The Breeding Biology Of The Elusive And Declining Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria Rostrata, Angelique Pagenaud, Karen Bourgeois, Léna Payandi, Wilfried Weiss, Éric Vidal, Andreas Ravache

Marine Ornithology

Among procellariids, the Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata is one of the most endangered and least known species. Its global populations are declining, yet demographic and ecological studies remain scarce. Understanding the breeding cycle and behavior of Tahiti Petrel adults and chicks is essential to develop effective protection measures. To address this knowledge gap, Tahiti Petrel colonies of various sizes were studied at three sites in New Caledonia, with extensive sampling at two main sites and limited sampling at a third. A total of 157 burrows were monitored for up to two years using endoscopic cameras and camera traps. This allowed …

Contents, Pacific Seabird Group

Marine Ornithology

No abstract provided.

Author Instructions, Pacific Seabird Group

Marine Ornithology

No abstract provided.

No Evidence For High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza In Waved Albatross Phoebastria Irrorata, Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui, Alberto Vélez, Patricio Vega, Verónica Buendia, Verónica Montenegro-Benalcázar, Christian Sevilla, Marilyn Cruz

Marine Ornithology

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is caused by the Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae species (type A, subtype H5N1), which has been detected in mammals (including humans) and marine birds in the Americas, including the Galápagos Islands. The Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata is a marine endemic species of Ecuador. Most of its breeding population nests on Española Island in the Galápagos Archipelago, and it forages at sea in the eastern South Pacific. This marine bird shares its feeding areas with the Peruvian Pelican Pelecanus thagus, Peruvian Booby Sula variegata, Guanay Cormorant Leucocarbo bougainvillii, Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti, Sanderling Calidris alba, Belcher’s Gull Larus …

Life-History Traits And Divergence In Population Trends Of Two North Pacific Auks: Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca Monocerata And Tufted Puffin Fratercula Cirrhata, J. Mark Hipfner

Marine Ornithology

Population trends in two closely related and ecologically similar North Pacific auks, the Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata and Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata, have diverged over recent decades: stable in the former, declining in the latter. I propose that differences between the two species in a broad suite of interrelated morphological, demographic, behavioral, and physiological life-history traits could explain their differing responses to recent environmental conditions.

Secondary Ela Mentor Teachers’ Feedback On Preservice Teachers’ Video-Recorded Lessons, Homood Alharbi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the feedback practices of secondary English Language Arts (ELA) mentor teachers and the reasoning behind their feedback to preservice teachers (PSETs) during early field experiences. Motivated by my own experience as a preservice teacher, where the absence of timely, meaningful feedback often left me without needed guidance, I was drawn to study how mentor teachers notice, interpret, and respond to novice teaching. This study focuses not on the mentoring relationship itself, but on the content and rationale of feedback provided by mentors.

Three secondary ELA mentor teachers participated in this qualitative study. Each responded to two video-recorded …

Analyses Of Morphological Effects Of Cryopreservation On Plasmodium Yoelii Sporozoites, Lauren J. Topley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is a vector-borne disease and is a major global public health threat caused by the genus Plasmodium. Of the five species that infected humans, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum contribute the highest rates of morbidity and mortality. Research efforts to develop antimalarial drugs and effective vaccines is imperative to the prevention of future cases. Plasmodium has three reproductive stages: sporogonic, liver, and blood. Sporozoites are injected into the human host from an infected female Anopheles mosquito, which travel to the liver to initiate liver stage malaria. Since few sporozoites are successful, the liver stage is a bottleneck of the …

He’S The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination Of Preschool Suspensions And Expulsions From A Mother’S Lens, Lisa M. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic research examines the personal and professional journey of advocating against preschool suspensions and expulsions through the lens of a Black mother. Titled He’s The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination of Preschool Suspensions and Expulsions from a Mother’s Lens, " it dives into the complicated challenges faced while confronting exclusionary disciplinary practices in early childhood education. This research aims to illuminate the societal and institutional roadblocks encountered when navigating systems of power and to explore the impact of these challenges on both personal identity and professional advocacy. Using a blend of social media artifacts and memory …

Representation And Visualization Of Multivariate Sensory Time Series Data, Ismail Uysal, Alla Abdella

USF Patents

In accordance with some embodiments, systems, methods, and media for processing and representing multivariate sensor information gathered from multiple sources are provided. In some embodiments, the method comprises: receiving a data sequences from respective sources; identifying a shortest data sequence that corresponds to a first interval; calculating, for pairs of data sequences, a similarity value over the first interval; forming a first segment of a representative data sequence that is a weighted combination of the data sequences over the first interval based on similarity values associated with the data sequences; truncating at least a subset of data sequences to exclude …

Conflicting Social Information And Its Impact On Sentence Comprehension In Young Adults With Dld: An Eye Tracking Study, Ansley Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals must recognize linguistic and non-linguistic social cues to resolve contextual ambiguities in their conversations. When the linguistic and social cues match, sentence processing is facilitated. However, conflicts between linguistic and social stimuli (i.e., incongruency) can lead to prediction errors which slow sentence processing. Limited research has explored the social cognition conflict resolution skills in individuals with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) despite their documented emotion processing deficits. This study considers the role of social prediction processing in adults with DLD as they engage in a social cognition conflict resolution task.

Young adults with DLD (n=29) and typically developing (TD) peers …

Vital Signs: Findings From Florida’S 2024 Ems Workforce Statewide Survey, Michael Lozano, Bruce J. Moeller, Ashley Tobin

Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services Research Reports

The 2024 EMT and Paramedic License Renewal Survey provides a comprehensive analysis of workforce trends, employment characteristics, recruitment challenges, retention patterns, and the mental health and wellness of emergency medical personnel in Florida. Conducted by the Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services (FL-CEMS) in collaboration with the Bureau of Emergency Medical Oversight (BEMO) at the Florida Department of Health (DoH), this survey captures insights from thousands of EMTs and paramedics renewing their professional licenses.

Key findings indicate persistent challenges in workforce retention, particularly for early-career professionals, and a notable decline in satisfaction with compensation. Despite these concerns, EMS personnel express …

Navigating Transit Governance: Wto Rules And Unclos With A Focus On Nepal And Afghanistan, Dr.Neeru Sidana, Disha Tiwari Ms.

Journal of Strategic Security

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Many developing, landlocked countries, such as Nepal and Afghanistan, face significant challenges in accessing international markets, which hinders their development. These issues inspired the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982, which grants landlocked states the right to navigate through coastal territories for trade. This article investigates how UNCLOS has influenced the transit and trade of Nepal and Afghanistan since the treaty's signing. The research examines the macroeconomic impacts of UNCLOS on these countries, focusing on trade trends and regional cooperation agreements. It analyzes how UNCLOS has facilitated increased trade and new economic activities …

Afghanistan, Wargaming, And Human Behavior, John A. Kirbow

Journal of Strategic Security

This article seeks to show how our successes and overall strategic failing in Afghanistan – in particular, the swift takeover by Taliban forces despite two decades of nation-building and partnering – can be a teachable moment. Specifically, how a more realistic, grounded understanding of human nature and decision making, informed by concepts of human incentives, uncertainty, and risk, can assist us in certain warzones. This understanding may be critical in current and future conflicts where the (1) the formal governing system is ineffective, (2) said government tends to be unresponsive to the needs of lower-level leaders and the population, and …

Human Security And Afghan Refugee Resettlement In The Us: A Case Study Of Camp Atterbury, Arif Akgul, Jennifer Grimes, Samuel Valentine

Journal of Strategic Security

This study examines the application of human security theory in the humanitarian operation at Camp Atterbury, which provided temporary resettlement for over 7,200 Afghan evacuees in the State of Indiana as part of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). Afghan evacuees were admitted to the US under humanitarian parole and experienced a transitional period since their arrival on August 2021. Using the three pillars of human security: freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom to live in dignity, conceptualized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Kofi Annan, this analysis explores the security measures, essential services, and accommodations implemented to …

Atomic Clock Utilizing Spin-Dependent Recombination, Denis Karaiskaj

USF Patents

A silicon-based atomic clock for use in an electronic device structured to employ spin-dependent recombination in the silicon crystal. In at last one implementation, a source of energy configured to excite the impurity atoms within the silicon crystal includes a source of thermal energy but not a source of light or a source of broadband light that is not matched to said energy level transition of the impurity atoms.

Forum, Volume 49, No. 2, Summer 2025, Florida Humanities, Pam Daniel

FORUM: The Magazine of Florida Humanities

Contents: Letter from the Executive Director -- Letter from the Secretary of State -- From the Editor -- Humanities Live -- Treasure -- Oral History -- Florida Seen -- Florida Reads -- The Saltwater Road -- The Hero with a Thousand Purses -- Indigenous Florida -- A Taste of Florida -- Environmental Humanities -- The Quiz