Timothy F. Wright

Department of Biology
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
Phone: (505) 646-1136
e-mail: wright@nmsu.edu

Lab webpage: http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/twright/lab

Ph.D.: University of California San Diego

Post-doctoral work: University of Maryland, Smithsonian Institution

 

 

 

Department of Biology

 

 

 


 

 

Research Program: Communication and Evolution in Parrots

My research focuses on the function and evolution of vocal communication in parrots. Across the animal kingdom, the ability to learn vocal signals is restricted to a few evolutionarily distinct groups (songbirds, hummingbirds and parrots among birds; humans, bats and whales among mammals). Parrots are renowned for their vocal mimicry abilities in captivity, but less is known about how learning is used in the wild. Thus they present opportunities for understanding how learning shapes communication behavior, how the use of learned vocalizations differs between species, and why this ability evolved in the first place. These core interests have expanded through the years to a variety of related questions regarding the systematics of parrots, the evolution of their impressive longevity, and how best to conserve endangered parrot species that I approach collaboratively with other researchers and organizations.

We tackle these questions through a broad range of approaches including field observations, sound analysis, telemetry, captive studies, playback experiments, psychoacoustics and molecular population genetics and phylogenetics.  Students in my lab make use of these techniques or invent new ones as appropriate to investigate their own questions in behavior and evolution.

See my lab webpage for a complete list of publications and more information on people and research:


A pair of duetting yellow-naped amazons (Amazona auropalliata) with a laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) in the foreground

 

Hear a typical duet from the Northern dialect in Costa Rica [.aif file]


Courses Taught:

BIOL 322, Zoology: Syllabus Fall 2006;  Course Evaluations Fall 2006

BIOL 439, Animal Behavior: Syllabus Spring 2008; Course Evaluations Spring 2006

BIOL 550 Seminar on Developmental Plasticity and Evolution: Syllabus Spring 2007

BIOL 584, Animal Communication: Syllabus Spring 2007; Course Evaluations Spring 2007

BIOL 587, Behavioral Ecology: Syllabus Fall 2007; Course Evaluations Fall 2005

 

BIOL 587 Field Trip, Dripping Springs NM, March 2007

 

 


Parrot Conservation:

 

Interview on NPR's All Things Considered, 2001 discussing nest poaching of Neotropical parrots for the pet trade [.wav file]

 

 

PhD student Christine Dahlin, her field assistants and school kids of Irigaray, Guanacaste in front of a mural designed by Chris as part of an integrated parrot conservation program (March, 2007)


 

 Representative Publications (with links to PDF files)

Wright, T.F., E.E. Schirtzinger, T. Matsumoto, J.R. Eberhard, G. Graves, J.J. Sanchez, S. Capelli, H. Müller, J. Scharpegge , G.K. Chambers and R.C. Fleischer. 2008. A multi-locus molecular phylogeny of the parrots (Psittaciformes): Support for a Gondwanan origin during the Cretaceous. Molecular Biology and Evolution. in press. [Preprint], [Suppl. Table 1], [Suppl. Figures 1 & 2]

Russello, M.A., M.L. Avery, & T.F. Wright. 2008. Genetic evidence links invasive monk parakeet populations in the United States to the international pet trade. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 8:217. [PDF]

Wright, T.F., C.R. Dahlin, A. Salinas-Melgoza. 2008. Stability and change in vocal dialects of the yellow-naped amazon. Animal Behaviour. 76:1017-1027. [PDF]

Wright, T.F.  & C.R. Dahlin. 2007. Pair duets in the yellow-naped amazon (Amazona auropalliata): phonology and syntax. Behaviour 144:207-228. [PDF]

Wright, T.F. A. Rodriguez & R.C. Fleischer. 2005. Vocal dialects, sex-biased dispersal and microsatellite population structure in the parrot Amazona auropalliata. Molecular Ecology 14: 1197-1205. [PDF]

Wright, T.F., K.A. Cortopassi, J.W. Bradbury & R. J. Dooling.  2003. Hearing and vocalizations in the orange-fronted conure, Aratinga canicularis. Journal of Comparative Psychology.117:87-95. [PDF]

Wright, T.F. & G.S. Wilkinson. 2001. Population genetic structure and vocal dialects in an amazon parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 268:609-616. [PDF]

Eberhard*, J. R., T.F. Wright* & E. Bermingham. 2001. Duplication and concerted evolution of the mitochondrial control region in the parrot genus Amazona. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 18:1330-1342. [PDF]        *co-first authors

Wright, T.F., C.A. Toft , E. Enkerlin-Hoeflich, J. Gonzalez-Elizondo, M. Albornoz, A. Rodriguez-Ferraro, F. Rojas-Suarez, V. Sanz, A. Trujillo, S.R. Beissinger, V. Berovides A., X. Galvez A., A.T. Brice, K. Joyner, J.R. Eberhard, J. Gilardi, S.E. Koenig, S. Stoleson, P. Martuscelli, J.M. Meyers, K. Renton, A. M. Rodriguez, A C. Sosa-Asanza, F.J. Vilella, & J.W. Wiley. 2001.  Nest poaching in Neotropical parrots. Conservation Biology. 15:710-720. [PDF]   

Wright, T.F.  1996.  Regional dialects in the contact call of a parrot.  Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 263:867-872. [PDF]


Research conducted with support from

                                          

 


 

A clutch of yellow-naped amazon nestlings


Revised 24 January, 2008

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