Document Type

Grant

Project Title

: Examining the fitness costs of sex-specific song in an understudied Caribbean endemic (Icterus portoricensis)

Principal Investigator

Michelle Moyer

Publication Date

Fall 11-1-2026

College or Department

Biological and Environmental Sciences

Award Date Range

2025

Award Amount

4948.46

Abstract

Our ability to develop effective conservation strategies for rare species is impeded by limited knowledge of their distributions, natural histories, and environmental threats. The Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) is an endemic species on the island of Puerto Rico and is currently considered to be data-deficient by the Puerto Rican government, indicating that not enough is known about this species to properly assess the level of conservation priority. Males and females sing different songs, and only males sing during the dawn chorus. This unusual sex-specific separation suggests that male and female Puerto Rican Orioles may be using their songs for different functions. The biggest threat to this species’ reproductive success is heavy parasitism from the invasive Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). In 2023 and 2024, our team observed 0% oriole nesting success in the main breeding season due to heavy parasitism across two highly fragmented sites. If female orioles sing near their nests, female song may alert nest parasites or predators to the nest location, drastically decreasing fitness. To investigate these dynamics, we propose to (1) test whether cowbirds or predators respond to oriole vocalizations and (2) quantify male and female song rates across the day and year using automated recorders.

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