2
Effects of habitat resources on the territories and behavioral tendencies of passerines on the Austin College campus.
 Primary requirements for food and protection determine territorial boundaries, social or asocial behavior, and cooperative or competitive characteristics for passerines.  On the global scale, the Austin College campus is a microenvironment for a variety of birds frequenting North Central Texas.  Seven regions of the campus were observed over a 40 day period in an effort to determine the territories, intra- and interspecies behavior of the American Robin, Blue Jay, European Starling, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, and Northern Mockingbird.  Collectively the observations were made between 800 CST and 1900 CST on 11 separate days, spending a minimum of twenty minutes in each region to ensure the six species were observed in their entirety.  Tree, shrub, and bush placement diagrams were drawn for the seven regions and botany samples taken to determine how habitat resources effected the territorial boundaries of the six species.  Territories, based on habitat specifics, were apparent for the American Robin, Blue Jay House Finch, Northern Mockingbird, and Northern Cardinal, while diurnal activity centers were evident for the European Starling.  The Blue Jay, House Finch, Northern Mockingbird, and Northern Cardinal showed aggressive tendencies between the species while defending territories.  The European Starling and American Robin, overall, showed submissive behavior when in company with other bird species and human factors, solely for the European Starling.

3
Isolation and identification of human pathogens in the Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) and in the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) and their susceptibility to antibiotics.
 Birds are carriers of various human pathogens, such as Escherichia, Enterobacter, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus.  The fact that birds fly makes them possible long-range vectors for human disease. I investigated and compared the presence of human pathogens in the beaks and cloaca of the Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) that live in the clean environment of an animal colony and the Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) that were stored in a freezer. The beaks and cloaca of both birds were swabbed, and the bacteria were isolated on the EMB agar (Escherichia, Enterobacter, Salmonella), and MSA (Staphylococcus). Enterotube II test was done to confirm the presence of enteric organism, and blood agar was used to differentiate S. aureus from other Staphylococcus organisms.  From five quails that were tested, all of them showed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in their beaks as well as their cloacas.  One quail revealed the presence of Enterobacter aerogenes in the cloaca.  Only two birds showed the growth of E. coli in both cloaca and beak and three quails tested positive for E coli only in cloaca. All of the strains isolated showed multiple resistance to antibiotics with the Mueller-Hinton plates.  The frozen grackles showed only the presence of S. aureus in their cloacas and their beaks. None of enteric organisms were found in their beaks or their cloacas.  The ability of a bird to carry bacterial strains over long periods of time, even after it is dead and frozen, coupled with the likelihood of antibiotic resistance in those strains, may pose a serious danger for the people working with birds.

4
The effectiveness of commercial washings to reduce Salmonella contamination on egg shells.
 The presence of Salmonella contamination on store bought shell eggs were used to test the effectiveness of the commercial washings that the eggs are put through.  Sterile techniques were used and latex rubber gloves were used while handling the shell eggs.  72 store bought or commercial eggs were tested for the presence of Salmonella.  Sterile swaps were dipped into Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB), and the shells were swabbed and streaked onto SS agar.  One plate of SS agar was inoculated with Salmonella to have a comparison of growth type on the SS agar.  However, none of the 72 eggs displayed Salmonella contamination.  32 unwashed (control) eggs were also tested.  Sterile swabs were dipped into TSB, and the eggs were swabbed and streaked onto Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA).  The control eggs displayed great amounts of various bacteria. Salmonella was found on 11 of the control shell eggs.  Due to time constraints and media shortages, the inside fluid of the eggs were not tested as originally planned.  However, the commercial washings appear to be effective in reducing the presence of Salmonella on the eggshell's surface.

5
The mechanism through which Great Horned Owls make their silent and deadly flights.
 Owls have been one of the most mysterious and feared animals to ever co-exist with man.  They have been often thought of as bad omens, bringing horrid things to come.  Their nocturnal nature and their bone chilling calls in the darkness of night often send children running for mom and dad, and mom and dad running for the campfire.  For this and many other reasons, owls have been the subjects of intense study.  They have evolved an incredible system of "night vision", having numerous more rods than the average human eye, thus giving them the ability to see in almost pure darkness, and to detect minute movements that would otherwise go unseen.  They evolved other things, like a very keen sense of hearing and silent flight.  That is the object of study, their almost silent flight.  The Great Horned Owl served as the test subject.  It was observed on 7 different occasions flying with no sound, which was a great feat, as owls are hard to find.  The only sound heard was when it left the nest and the near by tree branches ruffled in response to the owl pushing off.  The bird itself made no sound.  Due to it being dark, and no real way to follow the owls in their flight, the bulk of the observations made were when they were leaving the nest for hunting around 2000 CST.  They always left just before it became dusky dark.  The silence of flight is explained by the special structure of an owls feathers.  When air is forced over the edge of a birds wing, creating lift, sound occurs, but with owls, the sound is muffled by long soft feathers that have small downy like extensions that almost trap the sound, and then disperse it.  Silence is a key element to owls in general, it is one of the most important factors that allow them to hunt, and ultimately survive.  The "silencer" effect of the observed owl's feathers was reproduced by creating an edge to cut the air, thus producing an airfoil and sound.  The silencer effect was created by attaching small rubber bands, clumped together in a ball, with numerous extensions dangling free, producing a trap for the sound.  Owls and their flight are one of today's

6
Environmental cues and shorebird migration at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.
 Hagerman NWR is home to an array of bird species.  Many use the refuge as a permanent home while others take advantage of it along their migration routes.  Birds are able to make use of a variety of environmental cues to determine if and when they should migrate.  In this project five species of shorebirds, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, and Pectoral Sandpiper, were observed and a census was taken at Hagerman NWR once a week over a five week period to obtain the abundance of each species.  These counts were analyzed in comparison to three environmental factors, temperature, photoperiod, and lake water levels in order to determine if any correlation exists between the number of shorebirds, their migratory patterns and the environmental cues.  There were only significant increases in the migratory abundance of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, while the remaining shorebird species had varying populations throughout the experimental period.  Throughout the experimental period lake water levels remained very close to normal, and there was no increased exposure to the shore or mudflats. Consequently, this had little effect on the shorebird population.  In addition, the temperature was quite erratic during the five week period and displayed a slight increase towards the end of the experimental period.  Although there were increases in the number of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, these increases did not correlate with any of the environmental cues.
 

7
Alarm responses in Red-billed Pigeons to rock and classical music.
 A group of six pigeons was split into two groups of three, which were then played either Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 Allegro Con Grazia or Aerosmith's Eat the Rich. The Tchaikovsky piece was much softer, without pitch extremes (either high or low) and was much more similar to the normal chatter or song of a bird. This made it much harder to elicit an alarmed response from the bird such as a wing flap or an attempt to hide. Instead, the pigeon was simply curious as to where the sound was coming from.  Those birds that were subjected to Aerosmith were much easier to condition fear into. The Aerosmith music was much louder, in shorter bursts with much more pitch variation at the extremes (especially at the higher extreme). This is much more like the typical alarm call in pigeons and was easier to get the pigeons to respond as such. By the last day, after an equal number of trials with both sets of birds, the birds that were being played Aerosmith were receiving many more feedings than those that were being played Tchaikovsky after an equal number of trials. feeding was the reward given after the desired response was shown. The desired response was a contact call, a wing flap or an attempt to hide. I then concluded that the pigeons responded more frequently to an alarm call that was higher in pitch, shorter in duration and louder in volume, over one that was low, long and soft.

8
Adaptive modification of behavior in the Rock Dove.
 Learning is the adaptive modification of behavior as the result of experience.  Many organisms must modify their behavior in order to survive.  To investigate birds' ability to learn, 6 Rock Doves were trained with a multiple reversal test.  An enclosed box with three holes in one side was used to determine whether or not Rock Doves could distinguish between three colors (red, blue, and black) and learn using operant conditioning techniques.  The pigeons were trained to peck at a red square in order to feed, and then reversed to peck at a blue square to feed.  The process was reversed three times to determine their learning ability.  All pigeons were able to discriminate between colors in order to feed.  All pigeons trained quicker to the red square than they did to the blue square. For each series, it took approximately 6.3 minutes more to train for the blue square than it did the red square.  For each series (red-blue), the pigeons both improved their time in learning the correct square to feed as well as cutting down on the number of mistakes made per series.  The most mistakes were made following  the first series after the pigeon had learned to feed by pecking the red square.  The results indicate that Rock Doves are able to adaptively modify their behavior.  This learning was necessary in order for the birds to feed.  By adjusting to the multiple reversal test and learning to switch from a red to blue feeding stimulus in a decreasing amount of time, it shows that pigeons are able learn as well as problem solve.

9
An investigation of the origin of stereotypic behavior in caged pigeons.
 By definition, stereotypy involves repeated, precisely patterned behaviors that have no apparent function.  The manifestation of such behavior is thought to be associated with internal conflict due to desire or frustration, and is evident even in the human population.  In order to determine whether or not stereotypic behaviors develop as conditioned responses, 6 pigeons were confined to a 15x9x11 inch cage and placed on a 1100 CST feeding schedule for 7 days.  Baseline behavior observations were taken, after which all birds were subject to three observation periods. Each observation period consisted of monitoring behavior five minutes before and after 1100.  These periods were separated by three day intervals in which the pigeons were returned to their original 1100 feeding schedule.  Period 1(false feeding) lasted three days, during which the birds were allowed to view food being poured into their food container at 1100 but not allowed eat.  Following false feeding observations, birds were fed at random during the afternoon.  During period 2 (starvation), behavior was recorded while the birds fasted for 2 consecutive days.  The final period (video) involved monitoring activity with a video camera, again during 2 days of fasting.  Five of the 6 subjects developed a stereotyped flapping, which significantly increased in both intensity and percentage of time budget from day 1 to day 3 of the false feeding period.  Very little adjunctive flapping was observed during starvation, and the activity was absent when the birds were monitored by video.  The occurrence of stereotypic flapping was significantly higher during the false feeding period when compared to the starvation and video periods.  These results indicate that the stereotypy arose as a response to the visual stimulus of food, which suggests that the pigeons' stereotypic behaviors develop as conditioned responses to external stimuli.
 

10
Effects of toxic concentrations of selenium on the embryonic development of Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).
 Selenium poisoning has been one of the least regulated and least understood toxic dilemmas among current environmental hazards. This metalloid metal is required in trace amounts to satisfy basic physiological needs. Evidence suggests that this toxin has an extremely narrow range between toxic and non-toxic levels (Landauer 1967). To test this threshold of toxicity on embryonic development, concentrations of 1ppm and 10ppm were introduced into the eggs of Japanese Quails. The experimental procedures of this project involved injecting solutions of 10ppm and 1ppm into sets of 20 eggs. For the control, distilled water was injected into 10 additional eggs. All eggs were incubated for 10 days, being monitored periodically for signs of development. After the incubation period, a total of 10 eggs (2 control, 8 1ppm) showed signs of development. Reasons for failure of development for the other control and experimental eggs may have been due to either excessive concentration of the toxin or microbial infection from the procedure. These remaining eggs were broken out after the 10-day period.  The two controls showed normal development at stage 35. Two of the eight eggs containing 1ppm [Se] developed normally, however four of these embryos exhibited severe cranial and hind limb malformations, lacking development of the optical vesicles in the diencephalon and in overall cranial regions. The results of this experiment reveal the possible hazards on development of this element when exposed in trace amounts. By revealing the horrors of selenium toxicity, perhaps greater regulations and reduction of usage will be called for to address environmental concerns not only for birds but for every living organism.

11
Intermittent incubation and its effects on embryonic development of Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).
 In the wild, a brooding female quail may leave the nest to look for food during incubation.  These periods of female absence from the nest may greatly influence embryo development, causing changes in temperature and humidity.  To determine the affect of intermittent incubation in Japanese Quail, three sets of eggs, twenty in each, were removed from the incubator for a six-hour period at 2 d, 4 d, and 6 d.  After cooling, the eggs were returned to the incubator and continued maturing until day 9.  Only one of the eggs removed during the second day of development showed serious retardation in development.  The eggs removed from the incubator during day 4 showed no serious development decline.  The eggs removed during day 6 of development showed definite retardation in development, being smaller (1.3-1.5 cm) than the control group (1.9-2.3 cm) with fewer well-defined characteristics.  The intermittent incubation of these eggs resulted in retarded development of the embryo.  This experiment, as well as previous studies, demonstrated that although cooling the developing egg may affect the rate of development, it does not cause malformations.

12
Relation of avian abundance to human presence and activity in an urban park.
 Human presence and activity into any ecological environment inevitably affects the populations and individuals therein.  This human presence and activity may affect such avian activities as establishment of territory, attraction of females, and formation of pair bonds, along with overall species diversity and richness.  This study sought to determine the effect of human presence on avian species diversity and richness in an urban park.  A census and description of various activities of both humans and birds were taken in a stand of trees surrounded by open grassy areas near a small lake.  Each census was taken for an hour on eight separate days in early spring.  Total birds present ranged from 11 to 59, while total humans present ranged from 0 to 18.  However, statistical evaluation showed there was no correlation between total number of birds and human activity and total humans present.  Furthermore, there was no correlation between birds making noises in the study area and human activity and total humans present.  Thus, avian presence and noisemaking are not directly related to total humans present, nor to human activity, though it is undetermined whether avian presence and activity is unchanged since the initial human intrusion.  Future studies may seek to census more than one habitat for longer periods of time, noting both avian and human populations, in an effort to broaden the sample number and sample areas.

13
The human effect on the bird population of Austin College.
 Many birds flee when approached by humans.  On the Austin College campus, the bird population must react to the presence of many humans.  It is, however, unclear how the different species react to the activity of humans.  To examine how humans affect the birds, this study observed the numbers, species, and behavior of the birds on campus.  Observations occurred eight times between 26 March 1999 and 28 April 1999.  The observations included half of the days during the week when there was peak human activity and half of the days on weekends when there was little or no human activity.  To take advantage of the peak human activity during the weekend the observations occurred at 0830 CST before daylight savings time and 0730 CST after daylight savings time.  Each observation lasted one hour and covered a clearly defined study zone on the Austin College campus.  The total number of birds appears to have little connection to the amount of human activity on campus.  The number of species seems to remain fairly constant regardless of the human activity.  There do seem to be a few species that are less prominent with greater human activity.  Finally, the behavior of individual birds and species appears to undergo some changes depending on the human activity, but this behavioral change is not consistent in all species.

14
Using a theme-based lesson to evaluate the validity of portfolio assessment in a secondary science classroom.
 Method of evaluation continues to be a pressing issue for teachers. The intent of this project was to explore the validity of portfolio assessment in secondary science classroom setting.  The project was designed as multiple lessons sharing an ornithological theme. Students were actively involved not only in the classroom setting but in the field setting as well.  Without administering a "test," student compilations of work were gathered and analyzed to determine the possibility of using this evaluation method in the science classroom.  The results were promising, generating belief that, if properly constructed, portfolio assessment could be used in this realm.  Extensive study is needed, however, to generate consistent portfolio evaluation by the instructor.

15
The behavioral consequences of subcutaneous androstenedione injections in three week old Japanese Quail.
 Androstenedione (AE) is a non-FDA approved or regulated steroid hormone used by millions of people in order to enhance their athletic performance.  The behavioral effects of taking AE are unknown.  AE serves as a direct precursor in the biosynthesis of testosterone.  Six male and six female Japanese quail were chosen for a study into the possible behavioral effects of taking AE.  Two males were test subjects and three females were test subjects, each sex given 1ml injections of 0.5g/20ml concentration of AE and peanut oil, respectively.  The remaining quail were controls and injected with 1ml of peanut oil.  Over a 5-day period, two  birds at a time were placed into a 100cm x 100cm arena to observe their behavior.  Signs of increased or decreased aggression were documented.  The birds were closely watched and all significant behavior was recorded.  Qualitatively, the males, possibly via aromatization, became less aggressive and the females exhibited slight increases in aggressive behavior.  The males were observed becoming less active and more timid while the females became slightly more active, meaning increased movement around the arena.