Melodrama, intrigue, and subterfuge: life as a highly social Arabian Babbler
Arabian Babblers were one of, if not the first, studied social cooperative breeding bird. Since the 1960s, these charismatic birds have been the focus of research into the handicap principle, whether it’s worth it to help at someone else’s nest, whether it’s worth it to stay with your group or disperse to potentially greener pastures, and many other basic questions of behavioural ecology. While this research all took place in more natural desert reserves of the Arava valley, for the past year I have been setting up a new study site in an area of mixed-modified habitats consisting of villages, orchards, and “natural” desert land. One of the main theories behind cooperative breeding is that it evolved to suit birds in harsh environments. So are the intense social bonds strained in a highly modified, but resource heavy, habitat mosaic? The short answer is – probably, but as with most things, it’s complicated. These resource heavy habitats may be too good to be true.
Additional Details
Webinar link - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82879903170?pwd=MU1zVnZQNFMwbHNLV3VTMWxCS252UT09
Meeting ID - 828 7990 3170
Passcode - 137133
Event platform - zoom
Organizer
Despite no
t necessarily being a birder (I didn’t even own proper binoculars), I completed an Honours BSc studying Tree Swallows through Dalhousie University in Canada, and an internship with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Life was leading me down the ornithological path, and I wasn’t exactly upset about the idea. In January 2015 my flight from Canada to South Africa landed in Port Elizabeth, where I would live for the next 5 years. Except, I actually spent more than two of those years in the Cape Fold Mountains and their fynbos biome, following and learning about Cape Rockjumpers. My research resulted in an MSc (Nelson Mandela University) and a PhD (Rhodes University), but most importantly an infatuation with my study species that I doubt will ever truly disappear. I am now studying birds in the Negev desert of Israel, and doing my best to find an excuse/time/money to go back to the Fynbos and see the worlds best birds.