Investigating the Chickadee \u3ci\u3eEthos\u3c/i\u3e.

Morality, as used within this dissertation, is conceptualized as having two distinct components – a shared, norm-based, cultural component and a subjective, character-based, emotion-based component. Using this dual-aspect model of morality, we examine the roots of morality using a comparative, 5th-Aim Ethological framework. This ethological framework was applied to study possible emotional states of the Carolina chickadees. Three experiments are presented which attempt to identify the most likely proximate emotion for the general call of the foraging chickadees. These studies examined food presence, food type and volume, and vocal cues of predator presence. Our data suggest that a homeostatic-related emotion is unlikely to be a significant proximate emotion for the general call of the chickadee in response to food discovery. A modest amount of evidence is also presented which suggests that threat-based motivation is not the dominant proximate emotion for the general call of the Carolina chickadee. In light of these findings, new motivational hypotheses are presented that may explain the subjective motivation elements preceding the chickadee call. We conclude with some scientific and philosophical parallels of our morality model, and some implications for the scientific investigation of morality

Antipredator conditioning in Mississippi Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis pulla)

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis pulla), the most endangered North American crane, is considered critically endangered and is protected by Federal and State law. Substantial funding has established the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Mississippi and an artificial insemination / breeding facility at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans, Louisiana to promote species recovery. In spite of extensive time, labor, and money invested in captive propagation, juvenile Mississippi Sandhill Cranes suffer substantial mortality due to predation by bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans) and red tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) upon reintroduction to the refuge. Studies have shown decreased avian mortality in reintroduction programs incorporating antipredator conditioning. Appropriate antipredator behaviors are likely innate in cranes, however the object at which to direct these behaviors may require social learning in lieu of the normally long period of parental care known in this species. An antipredator conditioning program was conducted prior to release for 2 years in juvenile Mississippi Sandhill Cranes using live tame predators and conspecific presence to teach predator recognition and appropriate responses. Death of juvenile cranes upon reintroduction to the refuge due to predation has not occurred since the inception of the program. However, factors such as an increase in predator control or differing weather conditions may have contributed to these results. Behavioral results strongly suggest that the presence of adult cranes during antipredator conditioning of subadult cranes is of benefit. With the presence of an adult pair of cranes (models), subadult cranes show significantly more vigilance in the form of the tall alert behavior. Contact call and guard call occurrence were associated with age, however appropriate vocal response to predator presence occurred regardless of whether a model was present. No cranes were harmed during antipredator conditioning procedures, and time and money expenditures were minimal. Antipredator conditioning programs for cranes can be relatively simple and inexpensive with minimal risk to participants. We strongly recommend similar procedures be incorporated into other avian endangered species reintroduction programs

Functions of agonistic interaction, social dominance and display in a winter population of the great tit, Parus major L.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D95948 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Mixed-species Flock Members’ Reactions to Novel and Predator Stimuli

Novel stimuli are ubiquitous. Few studies have examined mixed-species group reactions to novelty, although the complex social relationships that exist can affect species’ behavior. Additionally, studies rarely consider possible changes in communication. However, for social species, changes in communication, including rates, latencies, or note-types within a call, could potentially be correlated with behavioral traits. As such, this research aimed to address whether vocal behavior is correlated with mixed-species’ reactions to novel objects. I first tested the effect of various novel stimuli on the foraging and calling behavior of Carolina chickadees, Poecile carolinensis, and tufted titmice, Baeolophus bicolor. Chickadees and titmice both had longer latencies to forage in the presence of novel stimuli. Chickadees also modified their vocal behavior, having shorter latencies to call and using more ‘D’ notes in their calls in the presence of novel stimuli compared to titmice. Chickadees and titmice reacted to the novel stimuli similarly to how I would expect them to react to a predator. Therefore, a second experiment was conducted directly comparing chickadee and titmouse reactions to a novel (Mega Bloks®) stimulus and a predator (Cooper’s hawk) stimulus. Chickadees and titmice had an intermediate latency to forage in the presence of a novel stimulus compared to control and predator contexts. Again, chickadees had shorter calling latencies across contexts compared to titmice. As a final experiment, using semi-naturalistic aviaries, I tested whether chickadee flock size and the presence or absence of titmice influenced reactions to novel and predator stimuli. Chickadees called more in smaller chickadee flocks compared to larger chickadee flocks, and also when titmice were absent compared to when they were present. These results were stronger in predator contexts compared to novel contexts. This suggests that conspecific flock size influences calling behavior, such that smaller flocks, which may experience higher stress levels and may be required to exhibit more anti-predatory behavior, call more than larger flocks. Taken together, this work has important implications for the complexity of social relationships in mixed-species groups, the social roles species play within the group, and how group size influences vocal behavior and reactions to various degrees of threat

Parental Strategies of the Feral Indian Peahen <i>Pavo cristatus</i>

The Indian peafowl is a large, polygynously breeding species in which the female is entirely responsible for care of the precocial young. Parental expenditure was investigated in peahens throughout incubation and fledging, using both material and behavioural measures of expenditure. The scope of the study was extremely broad, but four main questions were addressed (see below). In addition, the effects of several potentially confounding physiological and environmental variables were considered. Is parental expenditure related to the residual reproductive value of the parent, or to the costs of expenditure for parental fitness? There is no evidence that peahens vary their expenditure in relation to their own age, and hence residual reproductive value. Female weight also has little influence on investment, except as a constraining factor on the more demanding forms of care, such as brood defence and egg production. Is parental expenditure related to the reproductive value of the offspring, or to the benefits of expenditure for offspring fitness? Offspring reproductive value is predicted to increase and renesting potential to decrease over the season, but behavioural measures of expenditure do not vary predictably over time. All these measures decline with chick age, suggesting that investment is adjusted to chick vulnerability rather than reproductive value. Does parental expenditure vary with clutch/brood size in accordance with the predictions for shared and unshared parental investment? Vigilance increases with clutch size but not with brood size, thus supporting the hypothesis that it is an unshared form of anti-predator behaviour (Lazarus & Inglis 1986), for the case that predators typically take an entire clutch but only single chicks. However, brood defence increases with brood size; females may perceive me as a threat to the entire brood, so that defence is shared rather than unshared. More detailed examination indicates that some measures may shift from shared towards unshared investment (or vice versa) with chick age. Is brood amalgamation an adaptive strategy? Observations and playback experiments suggest that both nest parasitism and gang-brooding can be adaptive strategies, whereas dump nesting and adoption may result from particular constraints. In summary, parental expenditure in the peahen appears to be determined primarily by its benefit for her offspring and its costs to herself, rather than by the reproductive value of either party. Observations generally support the predictions for shared and unshared investment. Brood amalgamation is common, and can be adaptive in some circumstances

Avian Rhetoric, Murmurations

This dissertation explores the omnipresent role birds play in the English language and in Western cultural history. Reading and weaving across academic discourse, multi-genre literature, and obsolete and everyday figures, I examine the multiplicity of ways in which birds manifest and are embedded in modes and materialities of human composing and communicating. To apply Anne Lamott’s popular advice of writing “bird by bird” literally/liberally, each chapter shares stories of a species, family, or flock of birds. Believing in the enduring rhetorical power of narrative assemblages over explicit thetic arguments, I’ve modeled this project on the movements of flocked birds. I initially proposed and now offer a prosed assembly of avian figures following each other in flight, swerving fluidly across broad and varied landscapes while maintaining elastic, organic connections. My project opens on starling murmurations, and the second chapter follows skeins of geese to goose-quill pens. Chapter three homes in on pigeon deliveries, via pigeonholes and dovetails. I close with corvids, with so-called murders of crows and the legacy of a literary raven. Throughout this work, I emphasize the powerful poetics birds have inspired, juxtaposed with reminders of our frequent marginalization and elimination of these species as pests. I hope such exhibits of human reliance on and exploitation of birds as materials of writing and rhetorics will help cultivate more mindful care and ethical treatment of the avian world, and the larger natural world

The Future of the Internet III

Presents survey results on technology experts' predictions on the Internet's social, political, and economic impact as of 2020, including its effects on integrity and tolerance, intellectual property law, and the division between personal and work lives