Becky Lausch
I am coming to NAU from Buffalo, New York to study Flickers in Arizona. I earned a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Integrative Organismal biology and minors in Chemistry and Spanish from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. While attending ESU, I assisted graduate students working with Louisiana Waterthrush and Pennsylvania bats. After spending a summer studying nesting birds in the Coconino National Forest, I was no longer content living on the Eastern half of the country. So I loaded up my cat, my bird books, and some field clothes and headed to NAU.
Effects of Hybridization Between Gilded and Northern Flickers
For my dissertation research at Northern Arizona University, I am examining hybridization between Northern and Gilded flickers. This phenomenon has been reported for decades, but the only major study published on the issue was in 1965 by Lester L. Short. Short used a shotgun to collect his specimens, which allowed him to examine their morphological characteristics, but he had no way of observing their behavior or examining the molecular ecology of the species with the methods and technology available at the time.
I will apply modern techniques(no shotguns involved) to assess gene flow between the two species as an indication of hybridization. By catching flickers throughout Arizona, I will determine locations and habitats where hybrids are most likely to occur.