Research

Hummingbirds are alcohol sippers, not bingers

Red headed hummingbird sipping nectar from flower
An Anna’s Hummingbird sipping from a California Fuchsia. (Photo credit: Víctor M. Ortega Jiménez)

A recent publication by Professor Robert Dudley of the Department of Integrative Biology in the journal Royal Society Open Science demonstrates that hummingbirds happily sip from sugar water with up to 1% alcohol by volume, finding it just as attractive as plain sugar water. They're not getting drunk though! Read more...

Beery Receives Tenure

Annaliese Beery with vole

Congratulations to Dr. Annaliese Beery on receiving tenure and her promotion to Associate Professor of Integrative Biology! The Beery Laboratory seeks to understand neurobiological pathways that support sociality (group-living) and affiliative social behavior between peers. To learn more, visit the Beery Lab Website.

 

Climate change, urbanization drive major declines in L.A.’s birds

Lark Sparrow
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, presents the latest results from UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology's Grinnell Resurvey Project, an effort to revisit and document birds and small mammals at sites first surveyed a century ago by UC Berkeley professor Joseph Grinnell.

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Speciesism in Biology and Culture: How Human Exceptionalism is Pushing Planetary Boundaries

Former IB postdoc Brian Swartz and IB professor Brent Mishler, present their new book entitled Speciesism in Biology and Culture: How Human Exceptionalism is Pushing Planetary Boundaries.  It includes 9 chapters containing wide-ranging discussions about the sociopolitical, cultural, and scientific ramifications of speciesism and world views that derive from it, integrating natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.