McCune Conservation Behavior Lab
Auburn Backyard Birds
We are investigating the impact of common activities in the suburban backyard (a widespread form of anthropogenic change) on native bird behavior, cognition, and disease. We use PIT tag and RFID technology to monitor use of bird feeders and create disease contact networks. We also quantify avian behavioral and cognitive traits through interactions with computerized smart feeders to test for an impact on these traits attributable to disease or access to predictable sources of food.
Clark's nutcracker seed dispersal for reforestation
Clark's nutcrackers serve a vital role as seed dispersers of the endangered whitebark pine. They collect seeds, carry them over long distances, and cache them in the ground. Some seeds are recovered and eaten, but some grow into new trees. We are investigating whether nutcrackers will disperse whitebark pine seeds into areas destroyed by severe fire to restore forests of this endangered tree. Additionally, we are investigating the role of human interactions with wildlife on public lands in shaping pro-conservation attitudes.
Behavioral management for conservation
As a co-PI role on the ManyIndividuals project, we tested whether we can experimentally increase behavioral flexibility of declining species to facilitate success in human-modified environments. My portion of this project focused on Florida scrub-jays at Archbold Biological Station and surrounding area. This species is Florida's only endemic bird species, but is federally threatened from habitat loss as scrub-oak ecosystems are converted to suburban developments. I tested whether behavioral flexibility training changed the natural foraging and substrate use behavior of this species to facilitate persistence in native scrub-oak and suburban areas.
Results are in process, but more research is coming to expand on this question!
© Christoph Moning
© Kelsey. McCune
© Jonathon Valente
© Jonathon Valente
Photo credit: Kelsey McCune
Behavioral ecology of a species with a rapidly expanding range
As a postdoctoral researcher, I studied great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) in Tempe, AZ and Sacramento, CA. Endemic to Central America, grackles have been breeding in Tempe for approximately 65 years and in Sacramento for around 15 years. As part of The Grackle Project, led by Corina Logan, I created experiments to measure individual variation in boldness and exploration, movement ecology, and learning. We compared these behaviors in grackles from populations across the current range to determine which characteristics relate to the ability to invade into new areas.
See the published results and preregistrations for my experiments here.
© Corina Logan
© Kelsey. McCune
Social behavior, boldness, and learning in jays
For my PhD dissertation I color-banded populations of wild Mexican jays (Aphelocoma wollweberi), a communal cooperative species, and the relatively asocial California scrub-jay (A. californica) to study the relationship between social behavior, boldness and learning. I used a puzzle box task to compare species ability to individually and socially learn. I also used two different assays to measure boldness, and I conducted focal follows to quantify social network structure of each species.
The distinct social environment of the two species was related to interesting differences in learning and boldness. See the published results here. See videos of this work here.
