Starter Grant: A Phylogenetic Study of the Evolution of Migration in Orioles

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DEB 0004400Omland Migratory behavior is one of the more fascinating aspects of the biology of birds, but little is known with certainty about the evolution of migration in genera and families of birds with contrasting migratory and non-migratory species. Dr. Kevin Omland is studying this problem in the oriole genus Icterus, focusing on three pairs of closely related species, each with a migratory and non-migratory representative. Molecular DNA data are to be collected from numerous individuals sampled from populations in the U.S. and Mexico; field work in Mexico has already been completed with assistance from ornithologists at the National University of Mexico City. The data will be used to construct fine-scale genealogies of the species pairs, in comparison with all other species in the genus (ca. 25 species total) in turn to test whether the direction of evolution has been from ancestral migratory behavior to non-migratory, or the reverse. In addition, the geographic spread of sampling will allow some preliminary prediction of the likely geographic course of evolution in these three species pairs, which range from tropical to temperate zones across Central and North America. Longer term, the research will help to assess how malleable or adaptable is migratory behavior in birds, in response to ecological conditions, or how constrained it may be by genetic heritage.