2008 Woodie Awards
Biology department receives grant to study songbirds
Kristine Duker
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
Walking through the woods on a nice spring afternoon you are sure to hear the sounds of birds singing. The songbirds' melodies echo through the woods for all to enjoy.
Dr. Barbara Pierce of the biology department here at Sacred Heart University was rewarded a $420,000 grant from the Division of Integrative Organismal System of the National Science Foundation (NFS) to study the singing songbirds.
Pierce will be working with Dr. Scott McWilliams of the department of Natural Resources Science at the University of Rohde Island (URI). Pierce and McWilliams will use the grant, which is for three years, to study the migration of the songbirds and which dietary fats the songbirds need to make it on the long journey.
The research team will not only include Pierce and McWilliams, but graduate and undergraduate students from both Sacred Heart and URI. The students will be performing research in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the research term will also be going overseas to the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany.
The students will be conducting most of the research in Germany and they will be training the birds and studying their migration habits. The songbirds will have just hatched by the time one of the students arrive in Germany in the summer, and that student will hand rear the birds. In the fall when the second SHU student arrives, they will train the birds and get hands on experience.
"The purpose of the study is to learn about the migration patterns of the birds. The birds will be placed in a wind tunnel for six to seven hours," said Pierce.
The students will open the cage and the songbirds will fly into the wind tunnel and the students will watch them.
The research will also help to figure out what the songbird need in their diets. According to Pierce, the songbirds need certain fats in their diets to help with the migration. They will be fed different diets to see which types of food make them fly better and help them through migration.
Dr. Barbara Pierce of the biology department here at Sacred Heart University was rewarded a $420,000 grant from the Division of Integrative Organismal System of the National Science Foundation (NFS) to study the singing songbirds.
Pierce will be working with Dr. Scott McWilliams of the department of Natural Resources Science at the University of Rohde Island (URI). Pierce and McWilliams will use the grant, which is for three years, to study the migration of the songbirds and which dietary fats the songbirds need to make it on the long journey.
The research team will not only include Pierce and McWilliams, but graduate and undergraduate students from both Sacred Heart and URI. The students will be performing research in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the research term will also be going overseas to the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany.
The students will be conducting most of the research in Germany and they will be training the birds and studying their migration habits. The songbirds will have just hatched by the time one of the students arrive in Germany in the summer, and that student will hand rear the birds. In the fall when the second SHU student arrives, they will train the birds and get hands on experience.
"The purpose of the study is to learn about the migration patterns of the birds. The birds will be placed in a wind tunnel for six to seven hours," said Pierce.
The students will open the cage and the songbirds will fly into the wind tunnel and the students will watch them.
The research will also help to figure out what the songbird need in their diets. According to Pierce, the songbirds need certain fats in their diets to help with the migration. They will be fed different diets to see which types of food make them fly better and help them through migration.
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