Probable Polygamy of the Great-Tailed Grackle (Quiscalus macrourus)

Range Expansion of the Great-tailed Grackle in the 1900s

Historic genetic structuring and paraphyly within the Great-tailed Grackle

The Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) and Boat-tailed Grackle (Q. major) are sister species that have expanded their ranges during historical times. This expansion has created an area of sympatry between these species in Texas and Louisiana, and between distinctive Great-tailed Grackle subspecies in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We investigated the evolutionary hi...

Rare Feeding Behavior of Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) in the Extreme Habitat of Death Valley

During the twentieth century, the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) underwent a rapid and largescale range expansion, extending its northern limits from Texas in 1900 to 21 states in the US and 3 Canadian provinces by the end of the century. This explosive growth correlated with human-induced habitat changes. To investigate adaptations that might explain their expansion into even extre...

Can endocranial volume be estimated accurately from external skull measurements in great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus)?

There is an increasing need to validate and collect data approximating brain size on individuals in the field to understand what evolutionary factors drive brain size variation within and across species. We investigated whether we could accurately estimate endocranial volume (a proxy for brain size), as measured by computerized tomography (CT) scans, using external skull measurements and/or by ...

Salmonella Surveillance Among Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) and Other Urban Bird Species in Eastern Texas.

Wild birds may play an important role in maintaining and transmitting Salmonella. Their ability to travel large distances and their proximity to human habitations could make them a vehicle for bridging Salmonella from wild and domestic animals to humans. To determine the potential public health risk presented by urban birds, we investigated the prevalence of Salmonella among great-tailed grackl...