Native Californians like to do more than drink kombucha and go surfing together. Native poppies like these depend on pollinators like the long-horned bee (Eucera frater albopilosa). Bee Mixed-Media contributed by Amelia Munson Flowers Grown & Pressed by Ryane Logsdon (@itendswithe on Instagram) Source: Frankie, G. W., Thorp, R. W., Pawelek, J. C., Hernandez, J.,…
Author: The Ethogram
The official blog of the UC Davis Animal Behavior Graduate Group.
Field Frame Friday: White-tailed tropic bird chicks are on the ‘more frequent, but smaller meals’ diet
White-tailed tropic bird (phaethon lepturus) chick survival depends more heavily on the frequency in which they are fed rather than the amount in which they are fed. They’re the original supporters of the millenial ‘5 smaller meals per day over 3 larger meals per day’ diet. [Photo by Nick Chudeau and caption by Maggie Creamer]…
Sunday Sketch: Rockin’ Cockatoos
Humans aren’t the only accomplished drummers in the world! Palm cockatoos have been observed using tools to drum on trees. In many cases, males will drum in the presence of females. Visual and vocal displays often accompany these rhythmic beats. That’s right-these cockatoos know how to rock! Sketch contributed by Victoria Farrar and fact contributed by Lindsey Broadus…
Field Frame Friday: Hummingbirds are so. fly.
Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) rely less on thrusting themselves into the air using their legs than other birds during take-off. Instead they compensate by using their wings earlier on in the take-off process. This phenomena was observed most when hummingbirds took off to either escape something startling or to initiate aggression with another habitat (rather than simply…
Newsroom: Just the Tipping Points
Check out how male water strider mating tactics exhibit tipping points based on group size and composition in our latest Newsroom piece by ABGG student Adrian Perez!
Field Frame Friday: Food poisoning continues to curse California condors.
Did you know that this scavenger gets food poisoning, but maybe not in the “rotten meat” way you think. In the 1980s, California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) were considered extinct in the wild due to many factors, but largely from unintentional lead poisoning from bullet fragments left in terrestrial animal carcasses. Due to captive breeding there…
Sunday Sketch: Ultimate marine predator vs. the panda of the ocean
Duhdum. Duhdum. Duhdumduhdumduh-move over Jaws soundtrack, the long (wrongly) vilified white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is now being replaced with a top predator that you may not expect: killer whales (Orcinus orca)! White sharks and transient (i.e. marine mammal eating) killer whales have similarly preferred food sources, and in the northeastern Pacific, there is regional overlap…
Field Frame Friday: Dimethylsulfoniopropionate: what a mouth full… of food.
Bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus) or ‘omilu in Hawaiian are able to detect dimethylsulfoniopropionate (say that 5 times fast, or just say DMSP). DMSP is a chemical produced by phytoplankton (marine algae) that is an indicator of food productivity. This chemosensory adaptation is important for foraging success! [Photo and caption by Karli Chudeau] DeBose, J.L., Nevitt,…
Field Frame Friday: Garibaldi neighbors respect the “no trespassing” signs.
Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) are territorial fish. Males will clear bottom territories and combat other fish and even SCUBA divers that come too close to their territory. However, it is uncommon that there is intraspecfic aggression; Garibaldis generally “respect” each other’s territories, so there is no need for aggression within species. [Photo by Nick Chudeau and…
Newsroom: A Bee of All Trades
Check out our newest piece by ABGG grad student Adrian Perez, telling us all about the task repertoire of honeybees!
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