Validating behavioral, acoustic, and physiological indicators of welfare in urban birds
Grantee: Miriam Soledad Vazquez
Institution: Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina
Grant amount: $9,600
Grant type: Seed grants
Focal species: Patagonian thrush (Turdus falcklandii), Rufous-bellied thrush (T. rufiventris)
Conservation status: N/A: Multiple focal species
Disciplines: Ornithology, animal behavior, physiology
Research location: Argentina
Project summary
This project will evaluate whether behavioral, acoustic, and physiological indicators consistently reflect welfare-relevant experiences in two urban thrush species that have recently expanded their ranges into Argentine cities. Welfare will be assessed by combining focal behavioral observations (vigilance, aggression, displacement, foraging activity, and tolerance of conspecifics and heterospecifics), passive acoustic monitoring (focal activity rates and calling patterns), and feather glucocorticoid analyses across urban sites that differ in vegetation cover and human disturbance. These indicators will be interpreted together to evaluate whether they show concordant, biologically meaningful responses across urban environments, while recognizing that different indicators may capture different temporal or contextual dimensions of affective state and welfare.
Why we funded this project
The study provides a proof of concept for integrating behavioral observations, passive acoustic monitoring, and physiological measures within a multidimensional welfare assessment framework applied under natural conditions. It also addresses whether commonly proposed welfare indicators remain informative across different species and environmental contexts, including urban environments shaped by human disturbance and novel biotic interactions.