Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

25 Feb, 04 AM - 28 Feb, 04 AM

Costa?s Hummingbirds (Calypte costae) are found in arid environments with extreme temperatures that range from cold winters to really hot summer. The extreme temperature imposes an environmental stress that hinders the development of song and associated song production features. With the environmental constraints on song development, high stressed individuals should produce songs that differ that of individuals raised in lower stressed environments. It is then expected that song is an honest advertisement of health, attractiveness and male quality. I predict that several song parameters will correlate with morphological and behavioral attributes of males as well as features of the male?s territory. My research will focus on Costa?s Hummingbird to explore the possible relationship between song structure and their morphological and behavioral characters. Specifically, I predict that the following song measures will be important: song bout rate, amplitude (loudness), peak and maximum frequency, and the mean and the variance in the upsweep of the song will be larger with larger males. Furthermore, larger males will hold larger territories with more flowering plants. To further explore the possible correlation between song and morphological and behavioral characters, I will collect song and corresponding measures in juvenile male Costa?s Hummingbird. I predict that larger juvenile males will develop song quicker and successfully hold a territory. Research will be conducted at Boyd Deep Canyon Research Center, Riverside County, California. The results from this research will lead to a better understanding of song evolution in the genus Calypte and, more generally, of avian song evolution

Visit #19631 @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

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Uyen Tran Feb 25 - 28, 2010 (4 days)

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