Nature as Mentor
Attributions & References
Browse through the research and photography that made this project come to life.
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Coyote
References
Bekoff M, Wells MC. 1980. The social ecology of coyotes. Scientific American. 242(4):130–151.
Hody JW, Kays R. 2018. Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America. ZooKeys. 759:81.
Minta SC, Minta KA, Lott DF. 1992. Hunting associations between badgers (Taxidea taxus) and coyotes (Canis latrans). Journal of Mammalogy. 73(4):814–820.
Thornton D, Scully A, King T, Fisher S, Fitkin S, Rohrer J. 2018. Hunting associations of American badgers (Taxidea taxus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) revealed by camera trapping. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 96(7):769–773
Photography
Prickly Pear Cactus
Majure LC, Puente R, Griffith MP, Judd WS, Soltis PS, Soltis DE. 2012. Phylogeny of Opuntia ss (Cactaceae): clade delineation, geographic origins, and reticulate evolution. American Journal of Botany. 99(5):847–864.
Reyes-Agüero JA, Valiente-Banuet A. 2006. Reproductive biology of Opuntia: a review. Journal of Arid Environments. 64(4):549–585.
Snyman HA. 2006. A greenhouse study on root dynamics of cactus pears, Opuntia ficus-indica and O. robusta. Journal of Arid Environments. 65(4):529–542.
References
Photography
Great-Tailed Grackle
Bowser S, MacPherson M. 2021. A study on the role of social information sharing leading to range expansion in songbirds with large vocal repertoires: enhancing our understanding of the Great-Tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) alarm call. Peer Community in Ecology [Internet]. [cited 2026 Aug 25]; Article ID 183. Available from: https://ecology.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=183
Caccamise DF, Lyon LA, Fischl J. 1983. Seasonal patterns in roosting flocks of starlings and common grackles. Condor. 85(4):474–481.
Dominguez JS, Bolger M, Bush A, Hauber ME. 2024. Strangers like me: birds respond equally to a familiar and an unfamiliar sentinel species’ alarm calls, but respond less to non-core and non-sentinel’s alarm calls. Journal of Avian Biology. 2024(3):e03230.
Iacopini I, Foote JR, Fefferman NH, Derryberry EP, Silk MJ. 2024. Not your private tête-à-tête: leveraging the power of higher-order networks to study animal communication. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 379(1905):20230190.
Kok OB. 1971. Vocal behavior of the great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus prosopidicola). Condor. 73(3):348–363.
Kuspiel M, Lindeman A, Naguib M, Kingma SA. 2025. The duration of alarm- and territorial defence calls alters receiver response in Eurasian magpies. Animal Cognition. 28:59.
Martínez RJ, Perez R, Mendoza L, Quirós DI. 2022. Ethogram of the common behavior of Quiscalus mexicanus (Passeriformes: Icteridae) in the Republic of Panama. Tecnociencia. 24(1):72–86.
University of Tsukuba. 2023 Jun 7. Collective behavior study examines how birds of a feather flock together. [accessed 2026 May 25]. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-behavior-birds-feather-flock.html.
Wehtje W. 2003. The range expansion of the great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) in North America since 1880. Journal of Biogeography. 30(10):1593–1607.
References
Photography
Turkey Vulture
Graves GR. 2017. Field measurements of gastrointestinal pH of New World vultures in Guyana. Journal of Raptor Research. 51(4):465–469.
Grigg NP, Krilow JM, Graves GR, Iwaniuk AN. 2017. Anatomical evidence for scent‑guided foraging in the turkey vulture. Scientific Reports. 7:17494.
Mandel JT, Bildstein KL, Bohrer G, Winkler DW. 2008. Movement ecology of migration in turkey vultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105(49):19102–19107.
Roggenbuck M, Schnell IB, Blom N, Bælum J, Bertelsen MF, Sicheritz-Pontén T, Sørensen SJ, Gilbert MTP, Graves GR, Hansen LH. 2014. The microbiome of New World vultures. Nat Commun. 5:5498. doi:10.1038/ncomms6498.
Santangeli A, Lambertucci SA, Margalida A, Carucci T, Botha A, Whitehouse‑Tedd K, Cancellario T. 2024. The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An expert perspective. Science. 27(6):109925.
Smith SA, Paselk RA. 1986. Olfactory sensitivity of the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) to three carrion‑associated odorants. The Auk. 103(3):586–592.
References
Photography