Boves Lab at Arkansas State University

Our latest publication now out in Evolutionary Ecology! Here we hypothesize (with some initial evidence from feather mites) that generalist brood parasites (like Brown-headed Cowbirds) may help symbionts disperse/transmit among host species. Congrats to Alix Matthews and Fabio Hernandes for another cool paper!

Brood parasites may facilitate horizontal transmission of feather mites: evidence from brown-headed cowbirds - Evolutionary Ecology For small symbiotic organisms, dispersal is a fundamental process that shapes their ecological and coevolutionary dynamics. Ectosymbiotic feather mites lack a dedicated dispersal stage and are primarily transmitted vertically (from parent to offspring) at the nest, resulting in high host specificity...

Had a special visitor at the station this morning - Philadelphia Vireo! Also had our first Tennessee Warbler and LOTS of Gray Catbirds.

Some recent captures at the A-State Bird Observatory! Northern Waterthrush, Least Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo pictured here. It has been a great Fall migration so far...about half way done, so come out on Thu or Sun mornings!

We recently caught this cute Carolina Wren at the AState Bird Observatory. But this bird wasn't just another Wren...it was a recaptured bird (already had a band on). It turns out we first caught this little guy in the fall of 2021 as a hatch-year bird! So he/she has been around for 4 years. Great to see him/her again!

The A-State Bird Observatory is back up and running! Have had some great birds so far. Come join us Thu or Sun mornings!

Congratulations to Doug Raybuck (and co-authors) for publishing another chapter from his dissertation. Here, Doug assessed how Cerulean Warblers respond to forest management in the Appalachians over a longer time frame (13+ yrs following harvest). It appears that they do not continue to use harvested stands at high densities after the midstory starts to develop in this region.

See the paper here:

www.sciencedirect.com

Yet another good reason to keep your cats INDOORS!

Could Cats Become a Vector for Bird Flu? A new study highlights the need for public health officials to ramp up bird flu surveillance in our feline companions.

Many years ago we attempted to learn about the migratory behavior of Scarlet Tanagers. We captured and tagged a bunch of birds with light-level geolocators in PA, and despite numerous individuals coming back, we were only able to recapture and thus get data from 1 bird. This bird was named The Professor. Since then others have tried to redo this study and failed (these birds are really hard to recapture!). So despite only having a single individual, we finally decided we needed to make The Professor's interesting journey known. Here is the paper that describes just that! Congratulations and thanks to Doug Raybuck for pushing this through!

Use of multiple South American nonbreeding regions and seasonally distinct migration routes by an individual Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) El rastreo individual de aves migratorias puede ayudar a los investigadores a hacer la conección de poblaciones de regiones reproductivas y no reproductivas y explorar la frecuencia, sitios y duración de las paradas migratorias y otros periodos estacionarios. En mayo-junio 2014, desplegamos 15 geo...

Our latest feather mite publication, led again by Alix Matthews, is now out in The Journal of Animal Ecology! In this paper we show that feather mites (from Prothonotary Warblers) aren't just eating whatever microbes are randomly available on their host, but actually are selecting to graze on specific bacteria and fungi...some of which could have negative impacts on the bird (by degrading feathers). So these feather mites could be mutualistic partners!

Picky eaters: Selective microbial diet of avian ectosymbionts Feather mites have been known to consume microbes from their host feathers, but here, for the first time, we demonstrate that they selectively consume feather-degrading microbes from feathers. Our wo...

Ty Sharrow led the effort on our latest manuscript which is out now in the Journal of Raptor Research! In this paper we describe some unusual behaviors that led to nest failure for American Kestrels, which have been rapidly declining, in nest boxes in agricultural areas around Jonesboro. Congratulations to Ty for his first publication from his Master's work!

Nest Box Cameras Provide Insight into Causes of Nest Failure for American Kestrels ABSTRACT. Although nest failure is a common occurrence in birds, oftentimes the causes, or details, of the failure are unknown because nests cannot be monitored closely or continuously. This inability to monitor nests in ways that allow for a detailed understanding of nest failure can hamper our abi...