Life Sciences Commons^™

The Bird Family Tree: How All The Major Bird Groups Are Related To Each Other., Eric M. Ray

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This is a video project designed to help inform those who are curious about the shape of the bird family tree. This tree (or phylogeny) covers how the major groups of birds are related to each other. Though not a deep dive into the phylogeny (individual bird families are not covered, for example), this video seeks to give people the basic overview of how groups relate to each other. The total length is just under 30 minutes. At the start the video covers the basics on how to read a phylogeny, and then gets into the discussion of how the …

Differential Migration Timing And The Form And Function Of Avian Wings, Jessica E. Deakin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A common differential migration strategy in birds is protandry, whereby males arrive earlier than females. The probable causes of protandry are well studied from the perspective of innate and physical environmental cues, but the influence of the social environment and wing morphology are less known. Theoretical models propose that sex ratio influences protandry; male-biased sex ratios are predicted to advance timing in males due to increased intrasexual competition. To empirically test this, I investigated the spring migration traits of male Yellow-rumped Warblers Setophaga coronata under differing sex ratios. An integrated automated telemetry approach was used, where locomotor movement of captive …

Consistency Is Key: Investigating Vocal Consistency In Field Sparrows, Stephanie Stanton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The History And Significance Of Taxidermy Bird Collections In North America: Bgsu's Own Undervalued Collection And Its Future, Kristin Burnside

Honors Projects

Taxidermy, despite its association with the bizarre and outlandish, has a rich history and culture that helped to define post-Civil War America and its pursuit of knowledge and reconnection with nature. With the widespread publication and availability of how-to guides, natural history collecting and taxidermy became accessible to any individual regardless of age, gender, or class. The hobby required physicality and courage to collect unique and interesting specimens, and intellect and creativity to conserve and display them, all of which inherently connected the avocation with respect. With varying levels of success, hobbyists experimented with different chemicals, such as arsenic, in …

Bird Articulation Guide, Kelsey Blaze Miller

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Current Methods In Avian Dietary Analysis And Their Integrated Application To Characterize The Trophic Niche Of Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia Motacilla)., Brandon Hoenig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Characterizing a species’ dietary composition presents an avenue to understand many facets of its ecological niche and can provide essential information for the species’ long-term conservation. To date, the vast majority of diet studies have relied on direct identification of prey during foraging observations or from diet samples to characterize the dietary habits of birds. However, advancements in laboratory-based approaches have revolutionized the field of trophic ecology by allowing researchers to indirectly infer dietary habits with higher resolution across greater time scales. Here, I apply two of these laboratory-based techniques, namely DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis, to characterize the …

Effects Of Melatonin Implantation On The Activity Levels Of Captive Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax Nivalis), Zoë Ward

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In vertebrates, melatonin regulates many components of the circadian rhythm; depending on the organism’s location and time of year, the pineal gland will produce melatonin accordingly, controlling the sleep-wake cycle and breeding physiologies. However, locations at the poles in which the sun is above the horizon for multiple days at a time pose unique challenges for the organisms living there. The goal of this study was to examine how the implantation of melatonin in an arctic-breeding songbird affects its activity levels and circadian rhythm. The subject of this study, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is a small songbird …

Influence Of Local- And Landscape-Scale Factors On Avian Assemblage In Fragmented Tallgrass Prairie Landscape, Pooja Panwar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural expansion and increasing urbanization are driving rapid landscape modification in the Tallgrass prairies ecosystem and are affecting biodiversity at multiple spatial scales. Thus, the conservation of fragmented grassland and steeply declining grassland avifauna is dependent on the relationship between local- and landscape-scale factors and avian assemblage. We also need to understand how these factors, operating at different spatial scales, drive the occupancy of different guilds in the assemblage. We conducted repeated point count surveys during the breeding season of 2019 at 66 grassland sites across Arkansas and Missouri, USA. We developed a multi-species occupancy model to estimate species richness, …

Spatio-Temporal Variation Patterns Of Bird Community In The Oasis Ecosystem Of The North Of Algerian Sahara, Lasad Chiheb, Bensaci Ettayib, Nouidjem Yassine, Hadjab Ramzi

Journal of Bioresource Management

The spatial and temporal variation patterns of birds were investigated in the Oasis ecosystem of the North of Algeria Sahara. This contribution aimed to investigate the poorly studied bird fauna of Bousaâda oasis. The direct observation method was used for bird counts, adopted only during the breeding period. A total of 53 species of birds from 29 families and 16 orders were assessed in the different habitats of the Oasis (palm, fruit trees and, cultivated crops). The Passeriformes order was the most abundant represented by 35 species and 16 families. The relative abundance and species richness were recorded during our …

Temporal And Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns Of Urban Mosquitoes In The San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico, Matthew W. Hopken, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Nicole Scavo, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Zaid Abdo, Daniel Taylor, James Pierce, Donald A. Yee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Simple Summary: Understanding the biodiversity of urban ecosystems is critical for management of invasive and pest species, conserving native species, and disease control. Mosquitoes (Culicidae) are ubiquitous and abundant in urban ecosystems, and rely on blood meals taken from vertebrates. We used DNA from freshly blood-fed mosquitoes to characterize the diversity of vertebrate host species in the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico. We collected two mosquito species that fed on a variety of vertebrates. Culex quinquefasciatus fed on 17 avian taxa (81.2% of blood meals), seven mammalian taxa (17.9%), and one reptilian taxon (0.85%). Aedes aegypti blood meals were …

Functional Morphology Of Gliding Flight I. Modeling Reveals Distinct Performance Landscapes Based On Soaring Strategies, Lindsay D. Waldrop, Yanyan He, Tyson L. Hedrick, Jonathan Rader

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The physics of flight influences the morphology of bird wings through natural selection on flight performance. The connection between wing morphology and performance is unclear due to the complex relationships between various parameters of flight. In order to better understand this connection, we present a holistic analysis of gliding flight that preserves complex relationships between parameters. We use a computational model of gliding flight, along with analysis by uncertainty quantification, to 1) create performance landscapes of gliding based on output metrics (maximum lift-to-drag ratio, minimum gliding angle, minimum sinking speed, lift coefficient at minimum sinking speed); and 2) predict what …

Glare Reduction By Dark Facial Markings And Bills In Birds, Clara Lebow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Avian facial plumage, bill coloration, and feather microstructure may serve one or more adaptive functions. Several researchers have proposed that dark eyestripes, bills, and facial masks aid in reducing glare, however, there have been relatively few tests of this hypothesis. Dark facial markings have been shown to have an adaptive glare-reduction function in recent field studies of a few species, but this hypothesis has never been tested in a broad multispecies analysis. It is likely that feather microstructure influences feather brightness and has an effect on the efficacy of glare reduction properties of feathers. I examined the link between dark …

Organochlorine Pesticide Residues In Feathers Of Four Bird Species From Westernpart Of Turkey, Kalender Arikan, Sali̇h Levent Turan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The use of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) has decreased considerably worldwide; they have been banned in most countries due to adverse impacts on wildlife. The purpose of the study was to investigate OCP residue levels in wild birds from Aegean, Marmara, Mediterranean, and Central Anatolia geographical regions of Turkey. Feather samples (n = 80) of four bird species in four regions were collected from anthropogenically dead birds such as roadkill and wind turbine collision. Feather samples were analysed using GC/MS and scanned for 23 pesticide congeners. Analysis results showed dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCPD), and their derivatives were present in almost all …

Nesting Success Of Dickcissel (Spiza Americana) And Non-Breeding Grassland Bird Use Of Northwest Arkansas’ Remnant And Restored Tallgrass Prairies, Alyssa L. Derubeis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dwindling populations of North American grassland birds are linked to habitat loss. Tallgrass prairie only covers 3% of its pre-settlement-era range. Small-scale restoration projects attempt to increase acreage for prairie avifauna, and while some breeding grassland species are present at these sites, nesting success and non-breeding use are still largely unknown. Both life history aspects are required for effective grassland bird conservation. My first objective was to access nest success of the Dickcissel (Spiza americana) at two remnant and two restored tallgrass prairies in Northwest Arkansas. From May-August 2017 and 2018, I found 114 nests that I monitored to determine …

The Traits That Predict The Magnitude And Spatial Scale Of Forest Bird Responses To Urbanization Intensity, Grant D. Paton, Alexandra V. Shoffner, Andrew M. Wilson, Sara A. Gagné

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

As humans continue moving to urban areas, there is a growing need to understand the effects of urban intensification on native wildlife populations. Forest species in remnant habitat are particularly vulnerable to urban intensification, but the mechanisms behind these effects are poorly understood. An understanding of how species traits, as proxies for mechanisms, mediate the effects of urban intensification on forest species can help fill this knowledge gap. Using a large point count dataset from the Second Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas, we tested for the effects of species traits on the magnitude and spatial scale of the responses of 58 …

Cause‐Specific Mortality Of The World’S Terrestrial Vertebrates, Jacob E. Hill, Travis L. Devault, Jerrold L. Belant

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aim: Vertebrates are declining worldwide, yet a comprehensive examination of the sources of mortality is lacking. We conducted a global synthesis of terrestrial vertebrate cause‐specific mortality to compare the sources of mortality across taxa and determine predictors of susceptibility to these sources of mortality.

Location: Worldwide.

Time period: 1970–2018.

Major taxa studied: Mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Methods: We searched for studies that used telemetry to determine the cause of death of terrestrial vertebrates. We determined whether each mortality was caused by anthropogenic or natural sources and further classified mortalities within these two categories (e.g. harvest, vehicle collision and predation). …

The Relative Effects Of Forest Amount, Forest Configuration, And Urban Matrix Quality On Forest Breeding Birds, Alexandra V. Shoffner, Andrew M. Wilson, Wenwu Tang, Sara A. Gagné

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Urbanization modifies landscape structure in three major ways that impact avian diversity in remnant habitat: habitat amount is reduced and habitat configuration and matrix quality are altered. The relative effects of these three components of landscape structure are relatively well-studied in agricultural landscapes, but little is known about the relative effect of urban matrix quality. We addressed this gap by investigating the relative effects of forest amount, forest configuration, and matrix quality, indicated by degree of urbanization and agriculture amount, on the diversity of three guilds of forest birds using data from 13,763 point counts from Pennsylvania, USA. Forest amount …

Examining Patterns In Nest Predation Using Artificial Nests, Victoria L. Simonsen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The use of artificial nests to study the predation of avian nests has faced disregard by ecologists due to inconsistencies found between the survival rates of real and artificial nests across studies and reviews. The negative perception of artificial nests providing an inconsistent assessment of survival has thus fostered the perception that artificial nests are a secondary option to be used to overcome logistical hurdles associated with achieving sufficient sample sizes in systems where study species are rare or elusive, or as merely a preliminary method to study predation across gradients. We argue that the greatest mistake ecologists have made …

The Effects Of Perceived Predation Threat On Stress Response And Memory In Birds, Chlöe S. N. Carter

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examined how perception of predator cues, across three sensory modalities, affects physiology and behaviour of songbirds. I hypothesized that the perception of predator threat would elicit physiological and behavioural responses in both acute and chronic exposure conditions. My first study examined the responses of wild-caught black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus), as well as lab-bred zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), to acute predation cue exposure by coding video recorded behaviour and corticosterone analysis. My second study examined changes in black-capped chickadees’ foraging behaviour and memory retention after chronic exposure to …

The Birds Of Nebraska, Paul Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This annotated list of the birds of Nebraska grew gradually out of research associated with my writing of the Birds of the Great Plains: Breeding Species and Their Distribution (Johnsgard, 1979a). It expands and updates an earlier version that was published in 2013 by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries DigitalCommons’ Zea Books (Johnsgard, 2013a). It has been updated and modified in its current revision to conform with the most recent (2017) major revision of the American Ornithologists’ Society’s Checklist of North American Birds (Chesser et al., 2017). It has also been modified in its current revision to conform very closely …

Wildlife Use Of Vernal Pools In An Urbanizing Landscape With A Focus On Population Vitality Of Vernal Pool-Breeding Amphibians, Carly Eakin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vernal pools in the northeastern United States provide essential habitat for pool-breeding amphibians and provide resources for other forest-dwelling wildlife. These pools and pool-breeding amphibians in particular are threatened by land conversion associated with urbanization and urban-associated factors. The responses of these amphibians and of birds and mammals using vernal pools to intermediate levels of urban development are largely unknown. I used field observations and lab experiments to study the amphibians, birds, and mammals associated with vernal pools along an urban development gradient in greater Bangor, Maine.

In Chapter 1, I examined bird and mammal use and assemblage composition at …

Bulletin No. 43: Birds Of The Connecticut College Arboretum: Eighty Years Of Change, Robert Askins

Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Variation In Mass And Wing Loading Of Nestling American Kestrels: Possible Effects Of Nestling Behavior And Adult Provisioning Behavior, Doug Mitchell

Online Theses and Dissertations

Among birds, the rapid growth rates of altricial young help reduce mortality by reducing the amount of time spent in the nest. However, in species where a high degree of maneuverability and speed is required (i.e. aerial insectivores), it is important that nestlings not gain excess weight. Nestlings in some species must attain an efficient wing loading just prior to fledging to facilitate mobility for hunting and evading predators. My objective was to examine the mass of nestling American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) during the mid- to late nestling period and specifically to determine the possible effects of attaching small lead …

Perception Of The Horizon Predicts Bird Abundance Better Than Habitat Patch Size In A Tidal Marsh Species Of Conservation Concern, Hallie Marshall

Honors College

The Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) is a tidal marsh bird species facing rapid population decline throughout its range. A major cause of this decline is degradation and loss of breeding habitat, and thus there is a need to preserve coastal marshes in the northeastern United States. To do so requires an understanding of the habitat features that support robust populations. Previous studies have shown increases in Saltmarsh Sparrow abundance with marsh size increases. In other grassland bird species, habitat patches with low horizons are preferred to those with tall objects (e.g., trees, telephone poles, wind turbines). This study tests how …

Of Cortex And Consciousness: “Phenomenal,” “Access,” Or Otherwise, Scott A. Husband

Animal Sentience

From the perspective of a comparative neuroanatomist studying the avian pallium, Woodruff’s (2017) claims about the behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for teleost sentience blur the lines between phenomenal and access consciousness (Block, 1995). I discuss the bias that complex cognition can only arise in the cortical layering typical of the mammalian pallium and conclude that Woodruff makes a good case that the tecto-pallial connections in teleosts are sufficiently complex to support something like sentience.

Nocturnal Roost Tree, Roost Site And Landscape Characteristics Of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorynchus Latirostris) On The Swan Coastal Plain, Candice Le Roux

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There is limited information on communal roosting in parrot species of Western Australia and other parts of the world. Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is an endangered species that forms large nocturnal communal roosts, and for this reason they are an ideal model species to test the characteristics or factors that are associated with roost sites. Known roost sites distributed across the Swan Coastal Plain were identified and selected through the Great Cocky Count project. A minimum of five and maximum of ten individual trees were assessed at 11 roost sites with an overall total of 95 roost trees sampled. I determined the …

Territorial Defense Strategies In The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis): Who Is The Bigger Threat?, Kaylee M. Gentry

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the use of defensive strategies in relation to territories year round in the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Responses to recorded neighbor song and stranger song playback from the middle of a focal male’s territory were measured. This allowed for an estimation of aggression in both the winter and spring seasons. Each focal male was subjected to both treatments (stranger song and neighbor song). Males were more responsive over-all to neighbor song playback, however in the winter months, persistence of response to neighbor song playback increased. It was also shown that southeastern United States cardinals show …

Territorial Aggression Increases Along An Urban Gradient In Resident But Not Migratory Song Sparrows, Darlene Turcotte

Honors College

During the breeding season, birds behave more aggressively toward rivals to maintain and defend territories. Resident birds are thought to be more aggressive than migratory birds because they need to maintain a territory year round. Furthermore, birds in urban environments can exhibit more aggressive behaviors than their rural counterparts because of the bolder behavioral characteristics required to colonize urban habitats. In this study, we investigated how migration strategy and landscape composition interact to affect territory defense in two subspecies of Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). To evoke an aggressive response, we simulated invasions by broadcasting songs from within a …

Changes In Avian Vocalization Occurrence And Frequency Range During The Winter, Amy I. Oden

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human population expansion has led to an increase in vehicle traffic and therefore vehicle noise. Traffic and traffic noise has been shown to affect avian abundance, breeding success, density and species diversity on the landscape. Documented changes in avian vocalizations due to traffic noise include shifts in amplitude, frequency, rate, timing, and duration of vocalizations along with a number of behavioral adaptations. During the winters of 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, we recorded and measured the “chick-a-dee” vocalization of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and the “po-ta-to-chip” vocalization of American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) to determine …

Wintering White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia Albicollis): Home Ranges, Aggression And Corticosterone, Marissa Ann Buschow

Online Theses and Dissertations

White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) are songbirds that spend the non-breeding season in southeastern North America, where they form philopatric territorial flocks. Flocks exhibit dominance hierarchies, with dominance rank associated with an individual's age and prior residence in the territory. Although social behaviors within flocks are well studied, few studies have described winter home ranges. I tagged white-throated sparrows (n = 12) in Madison County, Kentucky, with 0.9-g radio transmitters during the winter of 2010-2011. Locations were entered into ArcGIS and home range sizes were estimated with 50% and 95% kernel analysis for individuals with at least five locations. Mean core …