Welcome to the website of the Avian Behavioural
Ecology Group in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie
University.
Research
in the group is based on several species of Australian passerines in
the wild and captivity, and is aimed at advancing our understanding
of behavioural and morphological diversity. Current
projects focus on the evolution of social behaviour in colonially breeding
species such as the zebra finch; highly coooperative
behaviour in two
arid zone species, the apostlebird and chestnut-crowned
babbler; and speciation and the evolution of polymorphism in
the long-tailed finch and Gouldian finch
of Northern Australia.
In
addition to addressing questions of basic Behavioural Biology, we have
a parallel interest in applying the concepts and techniques of Behavioural
Biology to practical conservation and are making inroads into understanding
the decline of the endangered Gouldian finch. For more
details on our current projects, see Research
and the personal websites of Group members.
Our
research is carried out through active collaborations with colleagues
from Australia and overseas (see Visitors).
We are well equipped for behavioural research with facilities for holding
and breeding around 2000 finches; optical reflectance spectrometry,
video/acoustic recording, analysis and playback; molecular lab for microsatellite
genotyping with access to a sequencing facility and well established
study populations in central and northern Australia. Through cooperative
arrangements and collaborations we have ready access to a range of expertise
and facilities, and we actively encourage members to take advantage
of such opportunities to explore new perspectives and techniques.
We welcome
enquiries from prospective Postdoctoral Fellows, PhD students and Honours
students interested in working in any of our current research areas.
Contact
Dr Simon Griffith,
Department of Biological Sciences
Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
Tel: +61 (0)2 9850 1301; Fax: +61 (0)2 9850 9231
e-mail: simon.griffith@mq.edu.au