Overview
My lab is engaged in why organisms look and act the way they do. How and why do particular traits evolve, and how is this related to the role those traits play in the lifestyle of an organism in its environment? I would consider this the central question of evolutionary ecology, a field which has been at the heart of biology ever since Darwin raised the question and proposed natural selection as a general answer. In much of my research I start addressing this question by looking at specific cases, often in birds but also in humans. Sometimes the initial questions can be very basic: How do swamp sparrows learn their songs? How does an African weaverbird defend itself against a cuckoo that lays eggs in its nest? Why do some birds lay blue eggs? In order to answer such questions I use a variety of methods including field observations and experiments, molecular genetic analyses, examination of museum specimens, and laboratory studies of captive birds. I then use the results of these studies to test general hypotheses about the evolutionary process, with the goal of developing and refining theory. Usually the results lead to as many further questions and hypotheses as they do conclusions and insights.
The links below lead to summaries of current and recent research projects and sketches of plans for the future. At the bottom of this page is a list of some short-term or back-burner projects.
Other projects
Over the years I have undertaken or participated in several other writing or research projects. Most of these are small-scale and represented by a single publication (*for which see my publication list) but some are unpublished or unfinished. Some of these are just waiting for the right student or collaborator! Please contact me if you think you might be either.
- Plasticity and behavioral evolution [a major project soon to be revived, I hope!]
- Modes of behavioral evolution (unfinished review)
- Genetic interactions and behavior (unfinished analysis and prospectus, with Matthew Wund)
- Avian reproductive success:
- The influence of habitat discontinuities (edges) on the predation of bird nests (review* and prospectus*)
- The impact of road proximity and nesting density on predation of veery nests (unpublished data)
- The relationship between predator search strategies and density-dependent nest predation in birds (unfinished)
- Effects of habitat and nest site on reproductive success in the indigo bunting (unpublished data, with Robert B. Payne and Laura L. Payne)
- Weaverbird ecology:
- Genetic analysis of a founder effect in village weavers introduced to Hispaniola (soon to be published, with Heather Lerner, Alec Lindsay, and David Mindell)
- Nesting associations between the village weaver and other animals in The Gambia (observational study, with April R. Lahti and Mansa Dampha*)
- Nest defense in male village weaver colonies (unfinished)
- The village weaver as a test of our ability to predict invasiveness of an introduced species (review and analysis*)
- Village weaver ecology and invasiveness (textbook essay review*)
- Village weavers and Stenocereus cactus help each other reproduce in the Dominican Republic (observational study*)
- Systematics
and comparative functional morphology
- Morphological and behavioral evidence that the cuckoo-finch Anomalospiza imberbis is a viduid finch (collection-based study, with Robert B. Payne*)
- Relationships between tarsometatarsal structure and behavior in cuckoos and turacos (unpublished data, with Laurel Hester and Robert B. Payne)
- Encyclopedia articles on various topics
- Bird radiation* (with Jeff Podos)
- Bird song and human speech*
- Bird symbols in human culture*
- Human effects on birds*
- Similarities in vocal learning between humans and other animals*
- How sleep affects bird song learning* (with Carolyn Pytte)
