Tag: Toxostoma rufum

Song learning in birds: diversity and plasticity, opportunities and challenges

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 10 abstract A common trend in neuroscience is convergence on selected model systems. Underlying this approach is an often implicit assumption that mechanisms observed in one species are characteristic of all related species. Although themodel systemapproach has been extremelyproductive, itmight not account for all of themechanistic differences between species […]

SPECIES RECOGNITION IN A VOCAL MIMIC: REPETITION PATTERN NOT THE ONLY CUE USED BY NORTHERNMOCKINGBIRDS IN DISCRIMINATING SONGS OF CONSPECIFICS AND BROWN THRASHERS

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 5 abstract Vocal mimics that produce large repertoires of song types, such as in the Mimidae, have uniquechallenges discriminating songs of conspecifics from those of other mimids in areas where these species cooccur.We investigated cues used by Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) in discriminating their songsfrom songs of a sympatric […]

The effect of gut passage by two species of avianfrugivore on seeds of pokeweed, Phytolaccaamericana

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 3 abstract Although avian frugivores are known to be important dispersers of seeds of pokeweed, Phytolaccaamericana L., there are no studies that rigorously examine the effect of gut passage through avian frugivores onP. americana seeds. I examined how passage through avian frugivores affected the proportion of P. americana seedsgerminating, […]

Direct observation of syringeal muscle function in songbirds and a parrot

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 4 abstract The role of syringeal muscles in controlling the aperture of the avian vocal organ, the syrinx, was evaluated directly for the first time by observing and filming through anendoscope while electrically stimulating different muscle groups of anaesthetised birds. Ole Naesbye Larsen and Franz Goller, The Journal of […]

BROOD PARASITISM BY BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS ONBROWN THRASHERS: FREQUENCY AND RATES OF REJECTION

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 6 abstract Rates of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds Molothrus ater on nests of Brown Thrashers Toxostoma rufum in south-central North Dakota ranged from 3% to 18% from 1984-1986. The average observed rate of parasitism, 12%, was higher than typically reported for Brown Thrashers. We conducted an experiment to […]

Prevalence of Bill Abnormalities in Florida Brown Thrashers

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 1 abstract The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) in Florida exHibits a high rate of occurrence of an elongated sickle-bill type of abnormality. This observation became evident after having reviewed the literature on the subject and after I captured an apparently healthy thrasherwith an elongated, decurved bill in north Tampa, […]

BROWN THRASHER NEST REUSE: A TIME SAVING RESOURCE, PROTECTION FROM SEARCH-STRATEGY PREDATORS, OR CUES FOR NEST-SITE SELECTION?

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 8 abstract Population of Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufam) nesting on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in northeastern Kansas. We determined whether thrashers reuse nests constructed in previous years, and tested predictions of the hypothesis that old nests function to reduce the risk of nest predation by saturatingt he […]

Incidental Cache Use by the Brown Thrasher, with Notes on Secondary Cache Use by Additional Avian Species

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 11 abstract Food hoarding is a widespread and complex behavior (Vander Wall 1990). Most research has focused on cache placement or food recovery by the hoarding animal, or on cache theft by conspecifics or by other food-hoarding species. Here, I document the way in which Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) […]

Brown Thrasher Life History Data

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 12 abstract Brown Thrasher Life History Data Information of more than usual value was obtained from a set of records compiled at the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Northampton and Easthampton, Massachussetts Edwin A. Mason, Bird Banding 23, 1969 Download article download full text (pdf)