Peter Bednekoff

A photo of Peter Bednekoff

Professor

Biology; Environmental Science and Society (ENVI) Interdisciplinary Program

401G Science Complex

734.487.2312

[email protected]

Education

  • BS, 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.

Courses

  • BIO 315 Evolution
  • BIO 416 Behavioral Ecology (planned new course that has been taught as a special topics class)
  • BIO 479 Predator-Prey Interactions (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

Publications and Presentations

  • Duncan, W.J. and 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. and 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. and 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., and 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. and 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. and 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. and 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. and 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. and 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. and 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. and 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.