My research encompasses theory and empirical work in behaviour, life history, physiology, toxicology, and morphology. I have conducted research along the following lines:

Plumage, condition and territoriality.- University of Western Ontario “Delayed plumage maturation” is said to occur when sexual maturation precedes the development of full adult plumage. Tree Swallows are the only North American species in which females, not males, have delayed plumage maturation. For my M.Sc. thesis I examined whether this alternative plumage is a strategy used by birds that are competitively inferior and/or in lower condition. Supervisor: Dr. P. T. Handford.

Determinants of parental care.- McGill University The general theme of my Ph.D. thesis was to examine how parental care is regulated in a socially monogamous bi-parental system, taking into consideration external factors (e.g. food abundance) and intrinsic factors (how the two parents negotiate how much each provides). This work, using yellow warblers, consisted of experimental manipulations and behavioural observations in the field. Advisor: Dr. R. E .Lemon.

Immunity and parental care.- Simon Fraser University During my post-doc I completed an experiment with tree swallows demonstrating that nestlings can actually benefit when their parents are immuno-stimulated just before reproducing. This work indicates parental immunity is transferred via the egg, and along with research indicating that females transfer hormones to their eggs, opens up a whole new area of research on parental effects. Sponsor: Dr. R. C. Ydenberg

Carotenoids, immunity and sexual selection.- McGill, Simon Fraser… In 1994, incorporating the fact that carotenoids also stimulate immune function, I proposed a novel idea: that carotenoid-dependent ornaments actually indicate health and immune condition, and that is why they are used by females to select mates. My hypothesis has led to a large body of work, including several graduate theses, which essentially confirm the predictions I made in 1994. Despite the widespread interest, several research avenues remain open.

Foraging behaviour.- UWO, McGill, UC Riverside, Patuxent I have always been interested on the effects of increased costs and risks (for example, from parasitism) on foraging behaviour. In 1991 I produced a paper indicating the ways in which parasitism could affect foraging behaviour. This was followed by an invited book chapter, which I started at McGill and completed at UCR, reviewing the idea of and evidence for self medication in animals. More recently, I have been combining ideas from marketing economics and foraging theory, trying to determine the effects of assessing and processing meaningless information on consumer (or forager) selectivity.

Reproductive and population biology.- McGill University Using our multi-year banding and breeding records from redstarts and yellow warblers, we examined the cumulative and independent effects of arrival time, prior residency, age and breeding experience on reproductive success. Collaborators.- Dr. R. E. Lemon, and S. Perreault.

Non-independent mate choice.- McGill University It has been argued that in some situations individuals may not choose mates independently, but rather copy the choices of other, presumably more experienced conspecifics. Using guppies, we unsuccessfully attempted to replicate what is still the clearest, if not the only, demonstration of mate choice copying. Guppies are easy to breed and maintain in captivity, so in addition to being useful in formal research, this system could also be used for laboratory exercises and undergraduate projects. Collaborators.- Drs. D. L. LaFleur (M.D.) and M. Sclafani (Ph.D.)

Immunoenergetics of toxicity.- Patuxent Wildlife Research Center The immune system can be considered a detoxification apparatus, and determining and energetic costs of immunity, and the interaction of immune function with toxicity is necessary to understand the overall effects of toxicity. I measured the effects of sub-lethal levels of mercury on immune function and metabolic rates. This work led to a Ph.D. thesis by Dawn Fallacara.

Immunity, condition and senescence.- Simon Fraser University I worked on condition-, season- and age-dependent changes in immunocompetence in the ruff, a species with 2 genetically distinct types of males with different breeding and life history strategies. Collaborator: Dr. David B. Lank

Other work.- In conjunction with Drs. F. Sharpe of Simon Fraser University/Alaska-BC Whale Foundation, I helped with the analysis of a study on the effects of simulated whale flippers on evasive behaviour by herring. Also at SFU, I worked on the effects of minor food restriction on immunocompetence in zebra finches. At the UC, Riverside I conducted a pilot study on the effects of carotenoids on immune function, using wild chicken as a model system. At Western, with Drs. T. Merendino and D. Ankney, I participated on aerial waterfowl surveys aimed to determine the distribution and abundance of mallards and black ducks across Ontario. With the University of Georgia, I sampled small mammals and birds for ticks and other ectoparasites throughout Florida. With Michele Kuter of William and Mary, I briefly worked with a population of common and roseate terns in Falkner Island, CT. With Drs. Ratiste and Saks I spent some time on Gull Island, Estonia

Of course, the most interesting work is still to come, but it would be unwise to be to candid in this forum.