Approximately 1% of bird species are obligate brood parasites. These birds don't build their own nests, incubate their own eggs or feed their own young. Instead, the female brood parasite leaves her eggs in the nest of another species (i. e. the host parent) often with considerable negative consequences for the other species. Brood parasites avoid the costs of parental care while reaping the benefits of offspring care. Our lab is examining the neurobiological, hormonal and molecular basis for this loss in maternal care. We comparative studies using Icterids (blackbirds); the avian family in which brood parasitism has evolved in North America. Our research is a blend of field studies using mist nests and bait traps as well as laboratory studies in which we examine the transcriptome of critical brain regions involved in maternal care and map gene expression across maternal-related brain regions. Our birds live in semi-natural conditions in outdoor Hofstra aviary equipped with five separate spaces for wild-caught birds. Frequent birds foud in our aviaries include multiple species of cowbirds (brood parasitic blackbird) and red-winged blackbirds (non-parasitic blackbird).

 

 

 

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