Date of Award
7-1963
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Thane S. Robinson
Second Advisor
Dr. Richard Brewer
Third Advisor
Frank J. Hinds
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Introduction
Many observations have been made on the behavior in the field of the bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and of other gallinaceous birds. Stoddard (1950) has described in some detail various aspects of bobwhite behavior. Stokes (1963) conducted a laboratory study on the agonistic and sexual behavior of the chukar partridge. No behavioral studies, to the writer's knowledge, however, have been conducted on bobwhites under controlled environmental conditions. The birds used in the present study were housed in individual cages and were arranged in an artificially fixed aggregation (Fig. 1). The birds were maintained in this condition through the experimental period and for a length of 13 months prior to it (Robinson, 1963a; 1963b). The writer's study dealt with (1) pacing and resting behavior, (2) leadership tendencies, and (3) the behavior of individuals which had been shifted from their fixed position in the aggregation to a new position. Data on pacing and resting behavior and on leadership tendencies were gathered under both breeding and non-breeding conditions. Data on the behavior of birds which had been moved to a new position, however, were obtained only when the birds were in breeding condition.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, Jack, "Behavioral Interactions in a Fixed Aggregation of Bobwhites" (1963). Masters Theses. 4477.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4477