Ecology and Phylogeography of Bird Migration Between Australia and New Guinea: Paradise Kingfishers as a Model Species

This project examines the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of intra-tropical bird migration between north Australia and New Guinea, one of the major migration systems of the southern hemisphere. I will use the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher as a model species, exploiting two features of its biology (an aerodynamically costly tail and a breeding distribution with a large latitudinal range) to shed light on the costs, benefits, and ecological correlates of intra-tropical migration. Molecular markers will be used to identify non-breeding distributions, migratory patterns, and the biogeographic histories of the different breeding populations within Australia.