Research        

My research focuses on behaviors that affect reproductive success and how individuals differ in these behaviors. One obvious attribute that varies between individuals is their age, and I have concentrated on how age, and the experience accumulated with age, affects parental behavior and reproductive success. Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Smith, I am studying age, arrival timing and parental behavior of gray catbirds. We are also beginning to examine variation in immune function and how this relates to arrival, reproductive success and provisioning rates of young.

The field site is located near Lackawanna State Park, and I also monitor the reproductive success of the birds nesting in the park's bluebird boxes. An undergraduate, Kathleen Parlanti, has been conducting research with me on changes in parental behavior after a human visit to the nest boxes. I strongly encourage undergraduates interested in field work, animal behavior and/or immunology to contact me about potential research projects.

                     M.S. and Ph.D. Research                    

Hatch, M. I. 2003. Parental care as a life history trait in house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Kentucky.

Hatch, M. I.  1996. Individual variation in the avoidance of nest predation in song sparrows. M.S. Thesis. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 Avoidance of nest predation in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia): For my master’s research, I examined individual differences in behavior that may reduce nest predation. I found no effect of nest placement or the intensity of nest defense by the female parent on the probability of a nest being depredated. I concluded that in the island population I studied, the most important factor affecting nest predation might be territory location. I also found that the same individuals did not intensify their nest defense from one year to the next, contrary to what is predicted by life history theory. This stimulated my interest in age-related changes in parental behavior, which became the focus of my dissertation research.

 Age and parental care in house sparrows (Passer domesticus): Between 1997-2001 I studied a population of house sparrows to document age-related differences in seasonal reproductive success and to examine potential behavioral mechanisms underlying these differences. House sparrows at least two years of age start breeding earlier and fledge more young than yearling house sparrows.  One hypothesis to account for differences in yearling vs. older birds is that older individuals, due to declining survival rates or reproductive potential, put more time and energy into raising offspring than younger individuals that have a greater expectancy of future reproduction. A second hypothesis is that young, inexperienced individuals lack the skills necessary to raise as many offspring as their older counterparts. My observational data did not support either hypothesis, as older and yearling house sparrows did not differ in provisioning rates, time spent foraging, or the average mass of their nestlings. However, brood size manipulations suggested that older females are able to gain more for their effort at the largest brood sizes by raising heavier young.

Publications:

Smith, R.J. and Hatch, M. I. (In press).  Stopover ecology of landbird migrants in Pennsylvania. In: Majumdar, S.K., Master, T.L., Ross, R.M., Mulvihill, R., Brittingham, M. and Huffman, J. (eds.), Avian Ecology and Conservation: A Pennsylvania Focus with National Implications.  Pennsylvania Academy of Science.

Hatch, M. I. and  Westneat, D. F. 2008. Familiarity between mates improves few aspects of reproductive performance in house sparrows. Behaviour 145:365-376.

Hatch, M. I. and Westneat, D. F. 2007. Age-related patterns of reproductive success in house sparrows Passer domesticus. Journal of Avian Biology. 38:603-611.

Westneat, D. F., Walters, A., McCarthy, T. M., Hatch, M. I. and. Hein, W. K. 2000. Alternative mechanisms of non-independent mate choice. Animal Behaviour 59:467-476.

Crowley, P. H., Cottrell, T., Garcia, T., Hatch, M., Sargent, R. C., Stokes, B. J. and White, J. M. 1998. Solving the complementarity dilemma: Evolving strategies for simultaneous hermaphroditism. Journal of Theoretical Biology 195:13-26.

Hatch, M. I. 1997. Variation in Song Sparrow nest defense: individual consistency and relationship to nest success. Condor 99:282-289.

Arcese, P., Smith, J. N. M., and Hatch, M. I. 1996. Nest predation by cowbirds and its consequences for passerine demography. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 93:4608-4611.