HUMANS
Corina Logan (she/her) (left)
Principal Investigator
Kelsey McCune (she/her) (middle)
Postdoc fellow and co-founder of ManyIndividuals (2018-)
Established the Tempe, Arizona field site and ran it for 2 years, then moved the site to Woodland/Sacramento, California and ran it there for 2 years. Developed a new component to the research program investigating space use and linking it with wild and captive measures of exploration, as well as developing the individual differences assays. Co-founded ManyIndividuals and is investigating whether increasing behavioral flexibility in disturbance-resilient blue jays and disturbance-sensitive Florida scrub-jays improves their success in human modified environments.
Christa Rolls (she/her) (right)
Research Technician (2020-)
Assists with running the long-term grackle field site in Woodland/Sacramento, California, focusing on trapping and color banding grackles, conducting focal follows, GPS tracking radio-tagged grackles, conducting point counts to determine population density, preparing data for analysis, and writing articles.
FORMER LAB MEMBERS
Vincent Kiepsch
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology HIWI (2020-2022)
Hypothesis-blind video coder for interobserver reliability analyses: 20% of the exploration and boldness videos from Arizona, exploration videos from Woodland, plus some multi-access box video coding from Arizona
Lea Gihlein
University of Leipzig student (2021-2022)
Bachelor's Thesis: Are there differences in behavioral traits between populations across the great-tailed grackle's geographic range? Also a hypothesis-blind video coder for interobserver reliability analyses: 20% of the reversal learning and multi-access box videos from California
Josie Hubbard
University of California Davis PhD student (2021)
Assisted with comparative cognition tests of temporarily captive grackles in California
Alexis Breen
Postdoc (2020-2021): developed a protocol for coding exploration videos, and coded videos for the Arizona and California populations
Research Assistant (2013): Assisted with New Caledonian crow data collection
Zara Marfori
Research Technician (2020-2021)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site in Woodland, CA, focusing on running the behavioral choice tests for grackles that are temporarily held in the aviaries
Tiana Lam
ASU Undergraduate (2020)
Obtains behavioral data from videos of the grackle comparative cognition experiments and assays
Sierra Planck
ASU Undergraduate (2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles. Obtains behavioral data from videos of the grackle comparative cognition experiments and assays
Anja Becker
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology HIWI (2019-2020)
Hypothesis-blind video coder for 20% of the reversal learning videos for interobserver reliability analyses
Sophie Kaube
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology HIWI (2019)
Hypothesis-blind video coder for 20% of the detour videos for interobserver reliability analyses
Brynna Hood
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles. Obtains behavioral data from videos of the grackle comparative cognition experiments and assays
August Sevchik
ASU Undergraduate and Research Technician (2018-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping and processing grackles, conducting nest checks and GPS tracking radio-tagged grackles. Carried out his senior thesis on sex differences in grackle genetic relatedness
Maggie MacPherson
Postdoc (2019-2020)
Conducted comparative cognition experiments in the aviaries
Sawyer Lung
Research Technician (2020)
Conducted nest checks and GPS tracking of radio-tagged grackles
Melissa Folsom
Research Technician (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, focusing on trapping and color banding grackles, managing undergraduates, and conducting nest checks, focal follows, and GPS tracking radio-tagged grackles
Luisa Bergeron
Research Technician (2018-2019): Assisted with setting up and running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, focusing on trapping and color banding grackles, managing undergraduates, and conducting aviary experiments
UCSB Undergraduate (2014-2015): Gathered behavioral observations on grackles in the field and assisted with cognitive tests
Carolyn Rowney
Lab Manager (2017-2019)
Set up the lab work to run efficiently and effectively, coordinated with collaborators to ensure we met their needs, designed new DNA extraction methods
Sam Muñoz
ASU Undergraduate (2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Jennifer Berens
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles. Conducted her senior thesis on validating morpohological condition indices and their relationship with reproductive success
Kaylee Delcid
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles. Conducted systematic point counts to determine great-tailed grackle density in Tempe, and an independent project on grackle play behavior
Michael Pickett
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Emily Blackwell
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Sam Bowser
ASU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Amanda Overholt
ASU Undergraduate (2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Elise Lange
ASU Undergraduate (2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping grackles
Aldora Messinger
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping and processing grackles
Olateju Ojekunle
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation, assisting with trapping and processing grackles, and weighing the grackles that were temporarily held in aviaries
Adriana Boderash
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation and assisting with trapping and processing grackles
Justin Hunyh
ASU Undergraduate (2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation
Elysia Mamola
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation, assisting with trapping and processing grackles, and examining red and white blood cells
Rita Barakat
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation, and assisting with trapping and processing grackles
Michael Guillen
ASU Undergraduate (2018-2019)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation
Aelin Mayer
Maricopa Community College Undergraduate (2017-2018)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation
Brianna Thomas
ASU Undergraduate (2018)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation
Sofija Savic
ASU Undergraduate (2018)
Assisted with running the long-term grackle field site at Arizona State University, including conducting trap habituation
Nancy Rodriguez
ASU Undergraduate (2017-2018)
Helped set up the grackle project at Arizona State University and conducted trap habituation
Zoe Johnson-Ulrich
Postdoc (2018)
Helped set up the grackle project at Arizona State University and conducted aviary experiments
Brigit Harvey
UCLA Undergraduate (2014-2015)
Investigated cognition in California scrub-jays
Michelle Gertsvolf
UCSB Undergraduate (2015)
Assisted with grackle cognitive tests and field observations
Soumya Suresh
UCSB Undergraduate (2015)
Assisted with grackle field observations
Maya Shoemaker
Volunteer (Santa Barbara, CA) (2015)
Assisted with grackle field observations
Christin Palmstrom
UCSB Undergraduate (2013-2015)
Validated field methods for approximating endocranial volume in grackles and investigated social learning
Linnea Palmstrom
UCSB Undergraduate (2014-2015)
Assisted with grackle cognitive tests and analyzed videos of lek-mating birds
Mackenzie Zisser
UC Berkeley Undergraduate (2014)
Gathered and analyzed videos of lek-mating birds
Deanna Falge
UCSB Undergraduate (2013-2014)
Gathered data on great-tailed grackle social interactions and breeding behavior
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Grackle art by Kelsey

© Kelsey McCune

© Kelsey McCune
MEET THE GRACKLES...
...in Tempe, Arizona (2018-2020)
...in Sacramento, California (2021)
...in Santa Barbara, California (2014-2015) - see below
GRACKLES: SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

© Corina Logan
Tequila - Adult male
Leg bands: Yellow / Purple - Sep 2014
He preferred to drop heavy rather than light objects into a water tube to raise the water level to reach floating food, and he changed his preference in a follow up experiment where heavy objects were no longer functional

© Corina Logan
Cerveza - Adult female
Leg bands: Blue / Orange - Sep 2014
She loves magnetism!

© Corina Logan
Charlie - Adult female
Leg bands: White / White - Dec 2013
Our first grackle! We banded her when she was a juvenile (her eyes were still brown instead of the adult yellow) and saw her grow into an adult. Her first breeding season was Mar-Aug 2014
Margarita - Adult female
Leg bands: Purple / Blue - Sep 2014
She also preferred to drop heavy rather than light objects and she loves magnetism too!

© Corina Logan
Michelada - Adult female
Leg bands: Orange / Red - Sep 2014
She was the fastest bird to learn to reverse a previously trained preference

© Corina Logan
Mojito - Adult male
Leg bands: Red / Green - Sep 2014
We banded and released him because the aviary was full at the time. You can see him in the wild flock with Tequila, Michelada, Cerveza, and Charlie at East Beach and the Santa Barbara Zoo
Chicha - Adult female
Leg bands: Blue / Red - Jan 2015
We banded and released her. You can see her in the wild flock with Charlie at East Beach

© Corina Logan
Batido - Adult male
Leg bands: Orange / Purple - Jan 2015
He preferred to drop heavy objects rather than light objects into a water tube and he hides under tables when raptors fly overhead

© Corina Logan
Horchata - Adult female
Leg bands: Green / Red - Jan 2015
She was the slowest bird to learn to reverse a previously trained preference

© Corina Logan
Jugo - Adult male
Leg bands: Red / Blue - Jan 2015
He always has a leaf or a piece of tape or something in his bill and he likes to put these objects in water
Refresco - Adult male
Leg bands: Purple / Yellow - Jan 2015
He preferred to drop heavy rather than light objects into a water tube to raise the water level to reach floating food, and he changed his preference in a follow up experiment where heavy objects were no longer functional
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