Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

19 Feb, 07 PM - 22 Feb, 04 AM

Learned song has been studied extensively in oscine songbirds, but less is known about the other avian groups with learned song, parrots and hummingbirds. Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) and Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) have distinctly different songs despite being sister species with overlapping ranges and habitats. The song of Costa?s hummingbird is simple, mono-syllabic and possibly innate compared to the complex, learned and multi-syllabic Anna?s hummingbird song. I hypothesize that male Costa?s hummingbird experiences weaker sexual selection, while Anna?s hummingbirds are under strong sexual selection for complex song. Up to forty adult male Costa's hummingbirds will be measured (mass, wing chord, gorget and tail size), banded, and tagged with a Passive Integrated Transponder. The latter will allow me to identify individual males, so that I can record their singing and territorial behavior over the breeding season. I predict that males with more complex songs will be larger, with larger gorgets and longer tails. I further predict that these males will hold larger territories with more flowering plants. The results of this research will lead to a better understanding of song evolution in the genus Calypte and, more generally, of avian song evolution.

Visit #17371 @Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

Approved

Under Project # 19608 | Research

Correlates of Costa's Hummingbird, Calypte costae, song

graduate_student - California State University (CSU), Fullerton

Reservation Members(s)

Group of 2 Graduate Student Feb 19 - 22, 2009 (4 days)
Group of 2 Undergraduate Student Feb 19 - 22, 2009 (4 days)

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Mayhew housing facilities 4 Feb 19 - 22, 2009