general
My research examines how animals acquire and use information, with a particular focus on animal construction behaviour—such as nest building and tool manufacture and use.
Detailed below are both my current and previous research endeavours.
Detailed below are both my current and previous research endeavours.
Current
Bird nest construction team (left to right): Eira Ihalainen, Sue Healy, myself, Lauren Guillette & Sophie Edwards
Picture showing nests constructed by zebra finch males (the builder in this species) in the laboratory using coloured material
Male (left) and female (right) zebra finch pair
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How experience shapes bird nest construction
I am currently finishing up my doctoral work on the role of experience in bird nest construction, supervised by Dr. Lauren Guillette & Professor Sue Healy (for an illustrated overview of this work, click here). Like all animal builders, birds face a number of decisions when constructing their nests: for example, where to nest, what material to use, and what type of structure to build. Although it is becoming apparent that experience plays a role in all these decisions, we still know very little about how birds 'know' how to construct a nest. Continuing work I started during my Masters of Science, I design experiments in the laboratory to carefully tease apart how the social and physical environment affect bird nest construction; specifically, zebra finch nest construction—a species that readily breeds and constructs nests in captivity (very useful!). I use video recording and behavioural scoring software to capture the behaviour of birds in unprecedented detail, and I analyse these data using statistical models. These methods allow me to shed light onto as yet unanswered questions, such as: Does the early social environment affect the development of juvenile material handling and/or material colour preferences? Do nests (as behavioural 'artefacts') affect material choice by inexperienced birds? Do raw-material properties affect bird nest construction (e.g., choice of material, resulting nest structure, breeding success), and, if so, do birds learn to avoid structurally unprofitable materials? This work is currently being prepared for scientific publication—hang tight! |
Previous
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Physical and social cognition in New Caledonian crows
In Summer 2013, I assisted Dr. Corina Logan on one component of her project that examined behavioural flexibility in large and small-brained birds. I worked with wild-caught tool manufacturing and using New Caledonian crows to tease apart aspects of how these birds understand the physical world around them and whether social learning plays a role in their foraging behaviours. This work resulted in three publications, which can be found here. |
A New Caledonian crow holding a freshly constructed stick tool (left--but hopefully that is obvious)
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