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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Tick Infestations And Their Consequences For Migratory Songbirds During Spring Stopover, Johnny Michael Sellers Jr.
Tick Infestations And Their Consequences For Migratory Songbirds During Spring Stopover, Johnny Michael Sellers Jr.
Master's Theses
Migratory birds face a number of challenges during their seasonal movement from tropical/sub-tropical Central and South America to more temperate North America. Maintaining health during migration is of particular concern. This study seeks to understand how haematophageous ectoparasites, such as ticks (Ixodida), impact host body condition as they feed on passerines during migration. We hypothesized that foraging location would impact tick acquisition by migrants and that tick burdens during migration would negatively impact body condition. We surveyed 2,064 birds during spring 2009 and 2010 and found that 2.4% of the surveyed birds were infested with one or more …
Ornamentation, Behavior, And Maternal Effects In The Female Northern Cardinal, Caitlin Winters
Ornamentation, Behavior, And Maternal Effects In The Female Northern Cardinal, Caitlin Winters
Master's Theses
This study seeks to understand the relationship between ornamentation, maternal effects, and behavior in the female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Female birds possess ornaments that indicate a number of important known aspects of quality and are usually costly to maintain. However, the extent to which female specific traits, such as maternal effects, are indicated is less clear. It is predicted by the Good Parent Hypothesis that this information should be displayed through intraspecific signal communication. Specifically, androgens and carotenoids are of interest in this study because both are linked to ornamentation, and are also important egg components that …