ANIMAL BEHAVIOR INSTRUCTORS BACKGROUND

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ANIMAL BEHAVIORINSTRUCTORS BACKGROUND

• Research program focuses on the ecology,
  behavior, and ecophysiology of migratory birds
• Conduct research in the laboratory and in the
  field at study sites around the globe
• http//www.usm.edu/mbrg/

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Roughly two-thirds of all the bird species that
breed in the forests of eastern North America
migrate from temperate breeding grounds to more
tropical wintering areas in the Caribbean,
Mexico, and Central and South America.
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MIGRANTS MAY EXPERIENCE THEBEST OF TWO WORLDS

• Increased reproductive performance by breeding in
  the food rich, competitor poor temperate habitats
  in summer
• Increased survival by spending the temperate
  winter in the tropics

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EN ROUTE PROBLEMS

• Adjust to unfamiliar habitats
• Acquire food in short period of time
• Contend with competitors
• Avoid predators
• Resolve conflicting demands
• Maintain health
• Gain adequate sleep
• Finding the right direction
• Cope with adverse weather

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If she solves en route problems, she experiences
a successful migration. Successful migration?
Survival and Reproductive Success
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EN ROUTE PROBLEMS

• Adjust to unfamiliar habitats
• Acquire food in short period of time
• Contend with competitors
• Avoid predators
• Resolve conflicting demands
• Maintain health
• Gain adequate sleep
• Correct orientation
• Cope with adverse weather

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Approximately two-thirds of all the bird species
that breed in the forests of eastern North
America migrate from temperate breeding grounds
to more tropical wintering areas in the
Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.
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EN ROUTE PROBLEMS

• Adjust to unfamiliar habitats
• Acquire food in short period of time
• Avoid predators
• Resolve conflicting demands
• Maintain health
• Gain adequate sleep
• Correct orientation mistakes
• Cope with adverse weather

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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• Arbovirus Arthropod-borne virus
• Arthropods Blood-sucking insects
• (e.g. mosquitoes, ticks)

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Spread of West Nile Virus
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Spread of West Nile Virus
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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• Migratory birds suspected as principal means
• of dispersing virus to new regions
• Birds are the amplifying host of West Nile
• virus.
• Birds captured during migratory period have
• WNV antibodies.
• Virus has been isolation from birds during the
  migratory period

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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• If migratory birds are principal
• dispersal agents, then
• Migrating birds must be infectious (i.e., level
  of viremia sufficient to infect mosquito).
• Infectious migrants must display migratory
  activity.

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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus
Swainsons Thrush
Wood Thrush
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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach

• Captured Fort Morgan Peninsula, Alabama, during
  fall migration
• Housed in a the Animal Research Facility, a
  Biosafety Level 3 Facility

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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach
Bird Cage
Datalogger
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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach
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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach

• Treatment birds inoculated
• with 1000 pfu of North
• American strain of WNV

Collected 0.05ml blood from both treatment and
control birds
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SWTH Nighttime Activity
TREATMENT
CONTROL
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WOTH Nighttime Activity
TREATMENT
CONTROL
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Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus
Migratory birds display migratory activity while
infectious with West Nile virus. Consistent
with the hypothesis that migratory birds are a
principal means of dispersing virus to new
regions
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EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS THE POSSIBLE
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA THE ACTUAL
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FAT FUELS MIGRATION
HYPERPHAGIA DIET SELECTION FAT DEPOSITS
Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
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EN ROUTE PROBLEMS
Conflicting demand between food acquisition and
predator avoidance
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COOPERS HAWK MODELAccipiter cooperii
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SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• Hypothesis Fat birds are more cautious with
  respect to predation than lean birds
• Prediction After exposure to a hawk model, fat
  birds freeze longer than lean birds

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COOPERS HAWK MODEL
GRAY CATBIRD FAT and LEAN YOUNG and OLD
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EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA
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SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• Hypothesis As risk increases, prey should
  decrease their exposure
• Prediction Adjust behavior in ways that reduce
  exposure to aerial predators, namely
• Forage deeper inside protective cover as risk
  increases
• Rate of movement decreases as risk increases
• Foraging rate decreases as risk increases

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BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERRISK ASSESSMENT
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK GLIDER MODEL
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BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER RESPONSE TO PREDATION RISK
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BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERRESPONSE TO MODEL HAWK
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RESPONSE TO RISK OF PREDATIONINTERPRETATION

• Migrants assess risk of predation during stopover
• Antipredator responses may restrict food intake

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EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA
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EN ROUTE PROBLEMS
Adjust to unfamiliar habitats Acquire food in
short time Avoid predators Contend with
competitors Resolve conflicting demands
Maintain health Gain adequate
sleep Find/maintain the right direction Cope
with adverse weather
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RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

• Energy Stores Influence the Decision to Migrate
• Energy Stores Influence the Choice of Migratory
  Direction
• Geographic Context Influences Integration of
  Directional Information

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FT. MORGAN PENINSULANorthern Coast of the Gulf
of Mexico
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RED-EYED VIREOVireo olivaceus
ORIENTATION ACTIVITY CAGES
Johan Bäckman
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Migratory Birds and Sleep Loss

• Wakefulness allows animals to interact adaptively
• with their environment, while adaptive waking
• performance is contingent on sleep, the function
  of
• which remains a contested issue.
• Consequences of irregular and deprived sleep
  patterns?
• Nocturnal bird migrants provide an excellent
  model group to study the
• consequences of naturally occurring sleep loss
  and compensatory
• adjustments that would accompany sleep loss,
  including uni-hemispheric
• sleep.

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TEMPORAL PATTERN TO MIGRATION
NEXRAD Reflectivity National Composite Robert
Diehl. Personal communication
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TEMPORAL PATTERN TO MIGRATION
NEXRAD Reflectivity National Composite Robert
Diehl. Personal communication
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DIEL PATTERN OF MIGRATION
Diehl, R. H. and R. P. Larkin.  In press.  Bird
Conservation Implementation and Integration in
the Americas Proceedings of the Third
International Partners in Flight Conference.
(Ralph and Rich, eds.). USDA Forest Service,
Albany, CA.
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Migratory Birds and Sleep

• A migrant loses substantial opportunity for
• nighttime sleep during the migratory season.
• Negative consequences?
• In response, migrants likely evolved compensatory
  
• mechanism(s). For example, migratory birds might
  sleep more during the day. But too much daytime
  sleep might compromise a birds ability to
  replenish energy supplies needed for subsequent
  flights and increase the risk of predation.
• Natural selection may have promoted other
  mechanisms for sleep compensation such as
  uni-hemispheric sleep.

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Migratory Birds and Sleep Loss

• Tested hypothesis that migrants
• compensate for sleep loss through
• collaboration with neurobiologists
• at Bowling Green State University
• Conducted behavioral and
• electro-physiological analysis
• of sleep

Swainsons Thrush
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Migratory vs. Non-Migratory State
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EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA