Current
Nest Building in Blue Tits
Nests are predominately built to protect eggs and nestlings from predators and the prevailing weather conditions. As a result there is considerable variation in nest design and nest site selection. This variation can occur even within a species, with different populations, in different environments, building nests from different materials or of a different structure. For example blue tits in Scotland use more feathers than blue tits in London. It is not known, however, if this variation occurs because birds are responding to the local weather conditions or because they are following a predetermined, genetic, template.
For my PhD I am investigating when female blue tits build their nest, where female blue tits build their nest and what they put in the nest. I will be looking to see if any differences occur between years, and what factors may account for these differences.
I would like to thank Dr Lauren Guillette and Dr Nora Carlson for their help in data collection on this project.
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Nest building in zebra finches
There is considerable variation in the structure of nests that birds build, variation that is even observed within species. Different populations, of the same species, are known to use more or less material in their nests and, in some populations, the amount appears to be related to the local temperature. The general assumption is that individual birds respond to the local temperature when constructing their nest, rather than that the structural variation is due to local adaptation. To test this assumption I am working with David Sherry and co at AFAR, University of Western Ontario, to see how zebra finches respond to different temperatures when building their nest. |
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Neurobiology of nest building
Nesting behaviour takes a variety of forms across vertebrates, from a simple excavation of a depression to a highly complex construction, yet little is known about the neurobiology of nest-building behaviour. This is surprising as, especially in birds, there is extensive research into the neurobiology of other key reproductive behaviours such as courtship song, parental care and copulation.
As part of my PhD I aim to address this lack of knowledge, by determining the neural underpinning of nesting behaviours using zebra finches. Understanding the neural pathways used in nest-building behaviour will provide a greater understanding of bird reproductive behaviour.
I am also collaborating with Dr Eira Ihalanien. Together we are investigating the role of the cerebellum in nest building.
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Previous
Categorisation by Pigeons
Vision is used by many species for categorisation and discrimination. Categorisation is the grouping of discriminable events and/or objects to enable similar responses, and has enormous biological relevance as it is involved in many fitness enhancing benefits, such as identifying predators, food, locations and conspecifics. Pigeons have demonstrated the ability to categorise a wide range of stimuli including people, man-made objects and even Monet and Picasso paintings. All stimuli contain different kinds of cues which are potentially useful for categorisation. For my MSc, at the University of Exeter, I worked with Professor Stephen Lea investigating the effect of colour on pigeon categorisation. My research looked at whether they would use local or global cues when given black and white or colour images.
Vision is used by many species for categorisation and discrimination. Categorisation is the grouping of discriminable events and/or objects to enable similar responses, and has enormous biological relevance as it is involved in many fitness enhancing benefits, such as identifying predators, food, locations and conspecifics. Pigeons have demonstrated the ability to categorise a wide range of stimuli including people, man-made objects and even Monet and Picasso paintings. All stimuli contain different kinds of cues which are potentially useful for categorisation. For my MSc, at the University of Exeter, I worked with Professor Stephen Lea investigating the effect of colour on pigeon categorisation. My research looked at whether they would use local or global cues when given black and white or colour images.
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