The Red Siskin Initiative was recently featured in a piece on the Smithsonian Institute for Biodiversity Genomics website–check it out here. The Red Siskin Initiative is led by members of the Braun lab. Check out the ‘Red Siskin Conservation’ tab to learn more about the project.

The Braun Lab was happy to host Troy Murphy of Trinity University for a short-term visit to begin a collaboration on avian hybrid zones. You can find out more about Dr. Murphy here. See below for a description of an internship related to this project that is available through the NHRE program.

Mike and Troy working in the NMNH collections

Troy Murphy

Hybrid variants

Project Title: Morphological variation across an avian hybrid zone: plumage coloration and mensural traits where two species meet.
Description: Within stable hybrid zones, there is a mix of genotypic contributions from the two parent species and hybrids often express intermediate and highly variable phenotypes. One such case of persistent hybridization is seen in avian hybrid zones in the great plains of North America. These areas of stable contact between parental species provide ‘natural laboratories’ where we are able to study phenotypic variation and the selective pressures leading to reproductive isolation. The black-crested titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) hybridizes with the tufted titmouse (B. bicolor) within a narrow zone in Texas and southwestern Oklahoma. Behavioral evidence indicates that the black-crested titmouse uses its large black crest as an aggressive signal during competition, while the crest of the less ornamented tufted titmouse is far smaller and grey, and we hypothesize, based on its reduced size, that the tufted’s crest plays a less important role as a signal of dominance. Body size is another variable often closely associated with dominance. We will test how titmouse hybrids, as well as the neighboring parental species, vary across the hybrid zone in body size, crest size and coloration. This will represent the first step in a project that will combine molecular and behavioral approaches to assess whether this communication signal of dominance increases reproductive isolation in this system. We will use round skins from the NMNH collection to measure crest length and coloration, as well as several variables related to body size. Crest length will be assessed via digital photography, and color will be assessed with a spectrometer paired with software that utilizes an avian visual model of color vision. By first characterizing plumage differences and body size, we will then be able to compare signal phenotypes to a genetic hybrid index (to be developed as part of a bigger project), map clinal transitions across the hybrid zone in all these traits and thus dissect introgression in fine detail.

Our next PhyloPizza event will take place on Tuesday, March 8, at 5:30pm in the NMNH Executive Conference Room (ECR). Tandy Warnow of the University of Illinois will give a talk entitled “Species tree estimation from genome-scale data: controversies and advances”. Join us!

Our next PhyloPizza event will take place on Tuesday, February 9, at 5:30pm in the NMNH Executive Conference Room (ECR). Vanessa Gonzalez of the National Museum of Natural History will give a talk entitled “Improving the common house spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, genome using in vitro proximity ligation (Dovetail Genomics)”. Join us! Flier for this event here.

Our next PhyloPizza event will take place on Tuesday, January 12, at 5:30pm in the NMNH Executive Conference Room (ECR). Rachel Warnock of the National Museum of Natural History will give a talk entitled “Estimating Evolutionary Rates and Times from the Molecular and Fossil Records”. Join us! Flier for this event here.

Bird Friendly Coffee (BF® ) is an innovative market-based conservation program that was pioneered by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Thousands of organic, shade coffee farms in Latin America have now been certified as BF® and are contributing to the preservation and creation of habitat for migratory birds and other species while benefiting economically. This win-win strategy is also the centerpiece of the Red Siskin Initiative (RSI) reintroduction plan that aims to recover natural populations across the historic range of this species. The RSI intends to release birds into farms certified as Red Siskin Friendly with support from surrounding communities, private landowners and parks that will participate in monitoring, protection and education to achieve long-term sustainability. Please support bird conservation by purchasing Bird Friendly coffee or ask your local supplier to carry it (use the form here).

Our next PhyloPizza event will take place on Tuesday, December 8, at 5:30pm in the NMNH Vertebrate Zoology Seminar Room (WG 33). Melanie Hopkins of the American Museum of Natural History will give a talk entitled “Dynamic evolutionary change, morphological trends, and disparity in post-Paleozoic echidnoids”. Join us! Flier for this event here.

Click here to read the Fall 2015 Red Siskin Initiative update!

Congrats to Braun lab postdoc HC Lim on the publication of “Genetic differentiation in two widespread, open-forest bird species of Southeast Asia (Copsychus saularis and Megalaima haemacephala): Insights from ecological niche modeling,” in Current Zoology. Paper available here.

Braun lab postdoc Brian Coyle presented on the Red Siskin Initiative during the Senate of Scientists lightning talks today in Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History. His talk highlighted the major foci of the initiative, including progress already made on surveying populations and improving the genome sequence, as well as the societal importance of the red siskin in Venezuela. For more information see the ‘Red Siskin Conservation’ tab, and check out this website.

Dr. Coyle on the Red Siskin Initiative

The crowd in Baird Auditorium

Taking questions with other speakers from the series