Dr. Peter Bednekoff

Professor

401G Mark Jefferson Science Complex

734.487.2312

peter.bednekoff@emich.edu

Education

B.S. University of Tulsa, 1988

Ph.D. Oxford University, 1992

Interests and Expertise

In order to survive, animals must find enough to eat and avoid being eaten. I study behavioral aspects of this basic trade-off between foraging and predation risk. For the most part I have combined empirical studies of birds in winter with theoretical studies. The empirical studies have examined: a) How small birds regulate their fat reserves in different environments; b) How birds that store food remember where they have hidden it; and c) How birds watch out for possible predators while feeding in flocks. Theoretically, I often wonder what promotes variability in behavior among and between individuals. This sort of thinking may have promoted some variability among my theoretical projects.

Publications

Duncan, W.J. & Bednekoff, P.A. 2008. Nesting with an enemy: the abundance of preferred and secondary prey near nesting Cooper's hawks. Ethology, Ecology, and Evolution. 20: 51-59.

Bednekoff, PA. 2008. On science and statistics. BioScience, 58: 381.

Bednekoff, P. 2008. Letter on "Does the color-coding of examination versions affect college science students' test performance?" Journal of College Science Teaching 38:8

Bednekoff, P.A., Bowman, R. & Woolfenden, G.E. 2008. "Do conversational gutturals help Florida scrub-jays coordinate their sentinel behavior? Ethology 114: 313-17.

Bednekoff, P.A. 2007. "Foraging in the face of danger" in Foraging (D.W. Stephens, J.S. Brown, R.C. Ydenberg, eds) University of Chicago Press

Bednekoff, P.A. 2007. "Prehistory: before foraging met danger" in Foraging (D.W. Stephens, J.S. Brown, R.C. Ydenberg, eds) University of Chicago Press Aviles, J.M. & Bednekoff, P.A. 2007. How do vigilance and feeding by common cranes, Grus grus, depend on age, habitat, and flock size? Journal of Avian Biology 38: 690-697

Dunlap, A.S., Chen, B.B., Bednekoff, P.A., Greene, T.M., & Balda, R.P. 2006. A state-dependent sex difference in spatial memory in pinyon jays, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus: Mated females forget when predicted by nesting behavior. Animal behavior 72: 401-411

Duncan, W.J. & Bednekoff, P.A. 2006. Singing in the Shade: behavior Northern cardinals near nesting Cooper's hawks, Canadian Journal of Zoology 84: 916-919.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Woolfenden, G.E. 2006. Florida scrub-jays compensate for the sentinel behavior of flockmates. Ethology 112: 796-800.

Bednekoff, P.A. 2005. Animal behavior in introductory textbooks: consensus on topics, confusion over terms. BioScience 55:444-448.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Lima, S.L. 2005. Testing for peripheral vigilance: do birds value what they see when not overtly vigilant? Animal behavior 69: 1165-1171.

Bednekoff, P.A. 2005. Defining the concept of public information. Science 308: 354. Bednekoff, P.A. 2004. Sentinel behavior. pp. 58-62 in Encyclopedia of Animal behavior, M. Bekoff, ed. Greenwood: Westport, CT.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Darner, R.L. 2004. Finding food while avoiding predators. pp. 47-51 in Encyclopedia of Animal behavior, M. Bekoff, ed. Greenwood: Westport, CT. Fernandez-Juricic, E., Kerr, B., Bednekoff, P.A., Stephens, D.W. 2004. Visual perception and information transfer affect vigilance coordination in foraging groups. Behavioral Ecology. 15: 898-906.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Lima, S.L. 2004. Risk allocation and competition in foraging groups: Reversed effects of competition if group size varies under risk of predation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 271: 1491-1496.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Woolfenden, G.W. 2003. Florida scrub-jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) are sentinels more when well-fed (even with no kin nearby). Ethology 110: 895-904.

Bednekoff, P.A. 2003. Testing explanations of the group size effect on vigilance: Let's be direct. behavioral Processes 63: 135-136.

Bednekoff, P.A. 2002. On Hotshots and Lotteries: Are the best males on larger leks better than expected? Behavioral Ecology 13: 580-1.

Bednekoff, P.A. & Lima, S.L. 2002. Why are scanning patterns so variable? An overlooked question in the study of anti-predator vigilance. Journal of Avian Biology 33: 143-149.

Courses Taught

BIO 315 Evolution

BIO 416 Behavioral Ecology (Planned new course that has been taught as a special topics class)

BIO 485 Ornithology

BIO 509 Statistics for Biologists

BIO 516 Behavioral Ecology (Planned new course that has been taught as a special topics class)

BIO 585 Ornithology