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The Department of Biological Sciences has awarded the Spring 2008 Outstanding Teaching Assistant award to Raptor Biology graduate student Melanie Berg Congratulations, Mel!
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The Richard Olendorff/Idaho Wildlife Scholarship was established to commemorate Richard Olendorff. This scholarship is awarded annually to recognize a graduate student who is affiliated with the Raptor Research Center and is an outstanding raptor biologist. The scholarship for Fall 2008 has been awarded to Steve Alsup Congratulations!
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SAVE THE DATE
Raptor Research Foundation 2008 Annual Conference
September 24 - 28, 2008 Missoula, Montana
The Legacy Lives On - A Tribute to John and Frank Craighead
Open to anyone interested in Raptors!
Please make your hotel reservations early as there is a Grizzly Football game that weekend in Missoula
For more information or to register, please visit: http://www.umt.edu/ce/cps/raptor/
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The Department of Biology and Raptor Research Center
The panel reviewing the 2008 Graduate Student Proposals for research support from the Raptor Research Center has met and recommended funding the proposals submitted by Raptor Biology students.
Melanie Berg Project: " The effects of maternal androgens on American kestrel nestlings" Summary: The maternal androgens testosterone and androstenedione in the eggs of American kestrels increase in concentration as the eggs are laid. The variation may be a method of influencing offspring phenotype by affecting immunity, survival, hatchability, and secondary sexual characteristics. My thesis project consists of injecting American kestrel clutches with one of three different designated doses of testosterone and androstenedione. The effects of these anabolic steroids on offspring phenotypes will be recorded and analyzed. Also, a new efficient and affordable method of analyzing bone alkaline phosphatase will be tested.
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Erin Strasser Project: " Reproductive success in American Kestrels: The roles of habitat quality, individual quality, and human disturbance"Summary: American Kestrels utilizing nest boxes in Southwest Idaho show variation in reproductive success depending upon nesting locations (Steenhof et al. unpubl. data). The aim of my research is to examine factors that affect American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) reproductive success in an attempt to explain this phenomenon. I will measure and relate reproductive success (number fledged per pair) to variables which may affect Kestrel reproductive success. These variables include habitat quality, individual quality, and level of human disturbance. As the mechanism between poor reproduction and environmental and endogenous variables may be chronic elevation of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT), I will analyze CORT in both adult and nestling Kestrels. Samples will be collected from birds nesting along I-84, near homes, and along secondary roads in SW Idaho. Results from this study may be used to identify factors that negatively affect Kestrel reproductive success, and the physiological means by which this happens.
Congratulations!
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New Publication
Staley, AM; Blanco, JM; Dufty, AM; Wildt, DE; Monfort, SL. 2007. Fecal steroid monitoring for assessing gonadal and adrenal activity in the golden eagle and peregrine falcon. Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 177 (6): 609-622 Abstract: We examined the efficacy of noninvasive monitoring of endocrine function via fecal steroid immunoassays in the golden eagle and peregrine falcon. High-pressure liquid chromatography analyses of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM) revealed that minor percentages of immunoreactive fGCM co-eluted with [3H] corticosterone in both sexes of the eagle (2.5-2.7%) and falcon (7.5-11.9%). In contrast, most fecal estrogen metabolites in eagle and falcon females co-eluted with radiolabeled estradiol-17B ([3H]; 57.6, 64.6%, respectively) or estrone ([3H]; 26.9, 4.1%, respectively). Most fecal progestin metabolite immunoreactivity in the female eagle (24.8%) and falcon (21.7%) co-eluted with progesterone ([14C]). Most fecal androgen metabolite immunoreactivity in eagle (55.8%) and falcon (63.7%) males co-eluted with testosterone ([14C]). Exogenous adrenocorticotropin hormone induced increased fGCM excretion above pre-treatment in both species, but only significantly (P<0.05) in the eagle. Both species showed increased fGCM after saline administration, suggesting the detection of 'handling stress.' Both species exhibited enterohepatic and renal recirculation of administered steroids as demonstrated by biphasic and triphasic excretion patterns. Thus, noninvasive fecal hormone monitoring is a valid and promising tool for assessing gonadal and adrenal status in rare and threatened birds-of-prey. [Full Text]
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New Publication
Sex identification in four owl species from Idaho:
LYNDA LEPPERT, TATIANA V. ZADOROZHNY, JAMES R. BELTHOFF, AND ALFRED M. DUFTY, JR. Raptor Research Center, Boise State University 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725 U.S.A.
SARAH L. STOCK Division of Resources Management and Science, Yosemite National Park 5083 Foresta Road, P.O. Box 700, El Portal, CA 95318 U.S.A.
GREG KALTENECKER Idaho Bird Observatory, Biology Department, Boise State University 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725 U.S.A.
JAMES F. SMITH Department of Biology, Boise State University 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725 U.S.A.
J.Raptor Res. 40(4):291—294
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Questions and comments regarding the Raptor Research Center:
mark_fuller@usgs.gov
Questions and comments regarding this website:
kbledsoe@boisestate.edu
This page was last reviewed on 22 May 2008.