Author: The Ethogram

The official blog of the UC Davis Animal Behavior Graduate Group.

Field Frame Friday: To eat or to save for later, the eternal question

A very familiar sight for us up here at Davis, I believe this here’s a Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger). These squirrels assess nut quality through handling and then make decisions on whether to cache the nut for later or eat it right away depending on its overall value. I also learned from an opening talk…

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Creature Feature: Hawk moth

At first glance, the animal hovering near the flower looks like a hummingbird. She is colorful with whirring wings and can fly at speeds up to 25 miles per hour [1]. A closer look, however, reveals that she is a white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata). Unlike many bees, she cannot bite or sting you [1]….

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Field Frame Friday: Sun’s Out Tongue’s Out

Did you know that dairy calves perform a wide variety of oral behaviors? In this photo, you can see the calf beginning to stick her tongue out, right before she performs a tongue flicking behavior. These behaviors have been previously associated with coping with stress and can indicate frustration! Current work in the dairy industry seeks to…

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