Faculty Mentors:

Our lab specializes in sensory ecology, and in particular how animals process information visually in foraging and anti-predator contexts. We use birds as model species because they show a remarkably high inter-specific variability in eye form, shape, optical design, and position in the skull, which leads to different types of visual systems.

We are currently focusing on two projects. First, we study how two key visual capacities (visual acuity and the extent of the visual fields) affect foraging and vigilance behavior when animals use food patches in groups. We hypothesize that animals with different visual systems will have different anti-predator strategies because of various visual constraints. For instance, species with wide visual fields but low visual acuity would tend to form larger foraging groups and reduce distance to neighbor group mates to increase the chances of detecting predators, but would reduce vigilance due to the wide visual coverage.

Second, we study the sensory mechanisms birds with different levels of sociality use to gather information regarding the presence and behavior of group mates. We hypothesize that social species will have specific sensory mechanisms (namely, gaze following) to detect subtle differences in the behavior of group mates because it will benefit their chances of finding mates, foraging patches, etc.

We use different approaches in these projects: (a) semi-natural experiments with wild-caught birds and robot birds, (b) observations of bird behavior in different habitat types (terrestrial and coastal), and (c) characterization of avian visual systems with histological and ophthalmoscopic techniques. Thus, students in our lab get the chance to learn methodological procedures that are relevant for both ecological and biomedical sciences.

Office location:

PH1-226

Campus Phone:

(562) 985-7597

Email:

efernand@csulb.edu

Esteban’s Webpage: http://www.csulb.edu/~efernand/

Behavior & Conservation Lab Webpage: http://www.csulb.edu/web/labs/bcl/