The Ecology and Conservation Group
Michael Anderson

RESEARCH

Vocal behaviour and breeding biology of the grey warbler (Gerygone igata) and the shining cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus).

The grey warbler (Gerygone igata) is a widespread and abundant native passerine. It is one of the few native passerines to have been successful following human induced habitat modification. This makes them an interesting study species for investigating the geographical variation of their song. Previous studies that have investigated the vocal dialects of native passerines (e.g. saddleback, Philesturnus carunculatus; and bellbird, Anthornis melanura) have done so on species that are geographically isolated. This research will investigate the development and maintenance of song dialects in a species that does not consist of geographically isolated populations. This allows the development of dialects through other means, rather than existing primarily due to geographic isolation.

In recent years, there have been considerable advances in the understanding the selective pressures imposed by brood parasites and their hosts on each other, but there remain many questions about the degree to which coevolutionary arms races escalate between host and parasite. The grey warbler is the only species in New Zealand that is a host of the brood parasite, the shining cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus). However, there has only been a limited amount of research into this host/parasite system, which has been restricted to the South Island. Research will be conducted to establish some of the fundamental aspects of this system, such as the rate of brood parasitism, timing of parasitism and the development of cuckoo nestlings. The coevolution of these two species will also be investigated, including the parasite mimicry of host nestlings through acoustic and visual cues, and the discrimination ability of grey warblers to parasite nestlings. Further research will include the host selection process used by the shining cuckoo, which may offer further insights to its exclusive parasitism of the grey warbler, and also the development of conspecific recognition abilities of the shining cuckoo.

FUNDING BODIES

• Top Achievers Doctoral Scholarship
• Marsden Fund (Royal Society of New Zealand)
• Massey University

PUBLICATIONS/ REPORTS

Anderson MG, Ross HE, Brunton DH & Hauber ME (Accepted). Begging call matching between a specialist brood parasite and its host: A comparative approach to detect co-evolution. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Hunt GR, Abdelkrim J, Anderson MG, Holzhaider JC, Marshall AJ, Gemmell NJ & Gray RD 2007. Innovative pandanus-tool folding by New Caledonian crows. Australian Journal of Zoology 55: 291-299.

Anderson MG & Hauber ME 2007. A recognition-free mechanism for reliable rejection of brood parasites. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 22: 283-286.

Anderson MG & Hauber ME 2007. The cuckoos. Quarterly Review of Biology. 82: 283-286.

Anderson MG 2003. Investigations into shorebird community ecology: Interrelations between morphology, behaviour, habitat and abiotic factors. Unpublished MSc Thesis. The University of Auckland, New Zealand. |Abstract (PDF, 49 KB) | Thesis (PDF, 2.2MB)|

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

2008 – New Zealand Ecology Society Meeting, Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand.
Anderson MG, Gill BJ, Brunton DH & Hauber ME. Variation in breeding biology with latitude in the grey warbler.

2008 - International Society for Behavioral Ecology, Cornell University, New York, USA.
Anderson MG, Brunton DH & Hauber MG. Species-specific responses of grey warbler nestlings to parental feeding and alarm calls: how to be fed but not heard?

2007 - Australasian Ornithological Congress, University of Western Australia, Perth.
Anderson MG, Ross HA, Brunton DH and Mark E. Hauber. (2007). A comparative analysis of the begging calls of New Zealand passerines: where does the Shining Cuckoo fit in?

2007 - Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Australia National University, Canberra, Australia.
Anderson MG, Brunton DH & Hauber ME. Response of nestlings to parental begging solicitation and alarm calls in a brood parasite host.

2006 - Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Sydney, Australia.
Anderson MG, Dennis TE, & Brunton DH. Making hay while the sun shines: the effect of abiotic factors on the foraging behaviour of non-breeding shorebirds.

2005 - Society for Conservation Biology Meeting, Brasilia, Brazil.
Anderson ME, Dennis TE & Brunton DH. Gender differences in bill morphology and foraging behaviour of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica): Implications for shorebird conservation.

2005 - Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Anderson MG, Dennis TE & Brunton DH. Sexual dimorphism of bill length in the bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica baueri): sex or ecology?

2002 - Ecology 2002 (NZES, ESA), Cairns, Australia.

2001 - New Zealand Ecological Society, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Acknowledgements

Field assistants for Anderson et al. in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Alana Alexander, Gavin Anderson, Shauna Baillie, Marleen Baling, Jake Bapty, Manuela Barry, James Briskie, Emily Brugge, Taneal Cope, Mark Delany, Graeme Elliot, Barbara Evans, Morag Fordham, Brian Gill, Tomas Grim, Charlotte Hardy, Malcolm Harrison, Weihong Ji, Stacey Hill, Barry Lawrence, Nora Leuschner, Tim Lovegrove, Eric Marsden, Luis Ortiz Catedral, Kevin Parker, Jo Peace, Marion Rhodes, Peter Samas, Hazel Speed, Rose Thorogood, Megan Willans (and field assistants), and Sarah Withers.