Bird-like is a continuous series of five musical scenes for sinfonietta, or, optionally, chamber orchestra (single winds, with a small string section). Each scene is inspired by the motions, behaviors, and physical appearances of a chosen species of bird or birds that might be s…
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A foraging guild of birds, composed of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis), herring gulls (L. argentatus), great black-backed gulls(L. marinus), American crows ( Corvus brachyrhynchos), fish crows (C. ossifragus), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), turkey vultures ( Catha…
Soon after the discovery that TRR was a selenoprotein Hill et al. showed that TRR activity decreased more than 90% in 14 wk old Se-deficient rats (Hill et al. 1997). To date, however, there are no reports of Se regulation for TRR message in vivo. Therefore, our objective was to …
Active anting behavior occurs when songbirds apply ants to their feathers. During anting displays, a bird draws its wings forward in front of the head and swings its tail around to the far right or left. Both wing and tail feathers are then rubbed with ants held in the bird's be…
Egyptian vultures were observed at 3 kinds of feeding sites (randomly-placed sites stocked with 2 chicken carcasses, a fixed site stocked daily with 4 chicken carcasses, and a fixed site stocked 2x monthly with livestock carcasses) in the Negev desert, Israel, during breeding se…
This study investigated bird distributions in relation to local habitat and landscape pattern and the implications which habitat fragmentation may have for woodland birds. There were two sections to the research: an experimental study investigating bird gap crossing behaviour ac…
Hedgerow fruits provide a food resource for several UK farmland bird species from late summer, through winter and into spring. This project aims to develop the understanding of the interactions between fruit-bearing hedgerow flowers, their pollinators, hedgerow fruits and frugiv…
The area of land farmed in Africa is predicted to double by the year 2050 yet very few African studies have investigated the impact of different farming intensities and regimes on bird communities. This study examined avian species richness and diversity along with the densities…
The Greek word for soul is psyche, which also translates as breath, the divine breath that animates all living things. Birds, as animal guides in myth, serve as a powerful connection to the soul; the very nature of a bird's movement is to swim in the divine breath, air. If, as t…
The relationship among oxidative stress, mitochondrial DNA integrity, and longevity continues to be without a general consensus. Here, we hypothesize that short- and long-lived birds, including the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), guineafowl (Numida meleagris), quail (Cortu…
This dissertation is organized in four chapters that deal with different aspects of my long-term studies of migratory raptors, vultures, and wading birds, in central Veracruz, Mexico, during the course of three spring and ten fall seasons (1991-2004). I examine several character…
Understanding animal-habitat relationships remains one of the key inquiries of ecology. In studying animal-habitat relationships, the traditional approach has adopted a resource-centered view, relying heavily on directly measuring attributes of a habitat itself. However, ecologi…
The main goal of this thesis was to develop new methods and knowledge that will explain and predict species differences in sensitivity to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) in birds. The important achievements and results obtained from the four experimental chapters of this thesis are…
Modern birds are the most diverse group of living tetrapods, and vital to their success is the evolution of an extremely efficient respiratory system, which supplies them with the oxygen necessary to cope with the energetic demands of other aspects of their "high performance" bi…
Global climate change can cause shifts in species distributions, and increases in some of their competitors, predators, and diseases that might even cause their extinction. Species may respond to a warming climate by moving to higher latitudes or elevations. Shifts in geographic…
Behavior and lighting management were investigated for some gallinaceous birds. Imprinting on foster parent chukars (Alectoris chukar) and behavioral conditioning were found to improve anti-predator behavior and survival of captive-reared chukars. Poncho radio transmitter attach…
Lesser scaup ( Aythya affinis ; scaup) comprise 89% of the continental breeding population of scaup (greater, Aythya marila , and lesser combined) which has declined nearly 60% over the past 5 decades from an estimated 7.9 million in 1972 to a historical low of 3.2 million in 20…
As the world urbanizes, wildlife species will be forced to adapt to changed environments to survive. Despite the variety of development patterns and urban design of cities, species must overcome the loss of open space and transformation of natural vegetation to survive. I invest…
The revolution in sequencing technologies has greatly advanced our understanding of genomes. Many regulatory elements lacking protein-coding ability, such as long non-coding RNAs have been identified and characterized in different biological contexts. However, functional interro…