Project presentation (January 2025 – July 2025)
I am seeking one 2nd year master’s student to contribute to a project which focuses on coordination of parental behaviours at the nest in the Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus), an Australian burrow-nesting passerine bird. The candidate would be involved in the processing of existing data, analysis, and write up of an agreed-upon research project related to coordination of parental behaviour during nest construction. The position is based out of Geelong, one hour from Melbourne.
Biparental care has been commonly studied as a ‘tug-of-war’ between the female and male (sexual conflict), where each pair member tries to optimize its own fitness by taking advantage of the other. Coordination of the parental activities at the nest (nest visits, incubation bouts, chick feeding) has been theorised as a means to solve this sexual conflict.
Your project will use data collected during my PhD study which aims to investigate a different viewpoint of biparental care: one that considers the links between cooperation, coordination and communication within pairs in the Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus). During two field seasons (2023-2024 and 2024-2025), I gathered data on parental coordination at the nest using video and audio recordings.
However, the methods used to study these behaviours generate large amounts of video data and require significant processing time. New methods are rapidly emerging in the field of ecology to facilitate data processing, many of which are based on machine learning. Therefore, the selected candidate will need to identify the most suitable tools for the available data and integrate these tools into an efficient workflow.
The data was collected in Brisbane Ranges National Park, Victoria, Australia. The position does not involve fieldwork. The University is in Geelong, Victoria.
Requirements to participate
– Positive communication and teamwork skills
– Interest in ornithology and/or in behavioural ecology
– Hard work and high motivation
– Patience, ability to maintain focus for long periods
– Interest in programming
– Ability to code in R and/or Python
Compensations
The position in unpaid. However, I offer free accommodation and an allowance for groceries (meals) for the student (pending funding).
References
On the research project:
Borrel, C. Beyond sexual conflict: drivers of breeding success in the Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus). Ecological Society of Australia Blog https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/blog/beyond-sexual- conflict/
On the general project theoretical background:
Griffith, S. C. (2019) Cooperation and Coordination in Socially Monogamous Birds: Moving Away From a Focus on Sexual Conflict. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [Online], 7. Available from: . (to read!)
Fricke, C. (2014) Sexual Conflict [Online]. Oxford University Press (OUP). Available from: .
On automated nest video processing:
Chan, A.H.H., Liu, J., Burke, T., Pearse, W.D. and Schroeder, J. (2024), Comparison of manual, machine learning, and hybrid methods for video annotation to extract parental care data. J Avian Biol, 2024: e03167. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03167
On testing automated data processing methods:
Grissot, A., Borrel, C., Devogel, M., Altmeyer, L., Johansen, M K., Strøm, H., & Wojczulanis-Jakubas, K. (2023). Use of geolocators for investigating breeding ecology of a rock crevice-nesting seabird: Method validation and impact assessment. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e9846. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9846
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