Black-capped chickadees ar
e commonly used as a model system in animal communication. In our lab we are interested in the relationship between the sensory physiology of the black-capped chickadees and their behavioral ecology. We have a banded population of over 100 individuals at the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve that we use to study auditory processing, vocal production, social interactions, and distribution. This is a long-term project in which we hope to integrate traditional lab-based sensory physiology with the behavior of free-living individuals.
Students in Biology 382: Animal Communication have been working on several black-capped chickadee projects with students in the Gall lab. Learn more about them below!