Research in the Wright Lab

 

In the Wright Lab we are broadly interested in the phenomenon of animal communication. We study animal signals from an integrative perspective, asking such questions as how animal signals function to mediate social interactions, what neural and endocrine mechanisms underlie the production and development of signals, and what evolutionary processes give rise to the incredible diversity of signals seen in animals. This work is largely conducted in parrots because of their well-developed learning abilities and complex sociality offers unusual parallels to human language and behavior.

 

 A nesting pair of yellow-naped amazons

A nesting pair of yellow-naped amazons

 

The sections below summarize some key themes of my research program and provide references to selected papers. A complete listing of my publications can be found at my Google Scholar profile and a partial list with pdf links is available at my NIH Bibliography.

 

Vocal learning and call sharing in parrots

Parrots have long been known for their vocal mimicry abilities in captivity, but when I began my research career little was known about how parrots use learned communication signals under natural conditions, and how such use might differ from that of the better-studied songbirds. My collaborators and I were the first to document the presence of vocal dialects in a wild parrot population, and later documented that these geographic patterns of vocal sharing were temporally stable and resulted not from passive geographic isolation but instead were a product of active vocal convergence by individuals learning new dialects upon contact. In subsequent years we have broadened our comparative perspective to better understand the link between social organization and patterns of calls sharing across different parrot species. This work is fundamental to a new view of the importance of vocal matching within social groups to group maintenance, and to the evolution of vocal learning itself.

  • Dahlin, C.R., G. Smith-Vidaurre, M.K. Dupin, F. Wright. 2024. Severe population decline drives cultural disruption in an Amazon parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 291: 20240659 [PDF]
  • Smith-Vidaurre, G., V. Perez-Marrufo & F. Wright. 2021. Individual vocal signatures show reduced complexity following invasion. Animal Behaviour. 179:15-39. [PDF]
  • Wright, T.F. & C.R. Dahlin. 2017. Vocal dialects in parrots: patterns and process of cultural evolution. Emu. 118:50-66. [PDF]
  • Wright, T.F. & G.S. Wilkinson. 2001. Population genetic structure and vocal dialects in an amazon parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 268:609-616. [PDF]
  • Wright, T.F. Regional dialects in the contact call of a parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 263:867-872. [PDF]

 

 

Neurogenetic mechanisms of vocal learning in parrots

Songbirds have served as the predominant animal model for vocal learning, and provided fundamental insights into the neurogenetic processes that regulate this key cognitive trait. In many songbirds, including the widely used zebra finch, learning is restricted to a critical period early in life, and no new vocal learning occurs during adulthood. This characteristic has limited their utility as a model for understanding adult speech learning, which is an important process for certain populations including immigrants, and patients with aphasia due to PTSD or stroke. My lab has pioneered the development of the budgerigar as an animal model capable of adult vocal learning. Our studies have included those related to FoxP2 expression and of the impact of glucocorticoids on cognitive abilities.

  • Moussaoui, B., K. Ulmer, M. Araya-Salas, & F. Wright. 2024. Persistent vocal learning in an aging open-ended learner reflected in neural FoxP2 expression. BMC Neuroscience. [PDF]
  • Moussaoui, B., S. M. Overcashier, G. M. Kohn, M. Araya-Salas, & F. Wright. 2023. Evidence for maintenance of key components of vocal learning in ageing budgerigars despite diminished affiliative social interaction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20230365. [PDF]
  • Medina-García, A. & F. Wright. 2021. An integrative measure of cognitive performance, but not individual task performance, is linked to male reproductive output in budgerigars. Scientific Reports. 11:11775. [PDF]
  • Whitney, O., T. Voyles, E. Hara, Q. Chen, S.A. White & F. Wright. 2014. Differential FoxP2 and FoxP1 expression in a vocal learning nucleus of the developing budgerigar. Developmental Neurobiology. [PDF]
  • Dahlin, C.R., A.M. Young, B. Cordier, R. Mundry & F. Wright. 2014. A test of multiple hypotheses for the function of call sharing in female budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 68:145-161. [PDF]

 

 

Comparative biology of vocal learning

While there is an undeniable focus on parrots in my lab, work with outstanding students and collaborators have broadened our focus to examine trends in vocal learning across taxa and their implications for the evolution of both learning and general cognition. This work includes foundational studies in the molecular systematics of parrots, studies of vocal and visual learning in hummingbirds (the third avian taxa with vocal learning), and broad comparative work across taxa that examines evolutionary questions related to vocal learning.

  • Smith, B.T. J. Merwin, K. Provost, G. Thom, R.T. Brumfield, M. Ferreira, WM. Mauck III, R.G. Moyle, F. Wright, & L. Joseph. 2022. Phylogenomic analysis of the parrots of the world distinguishes artifactual from biological sources of gene tree discordance. Systematic Biology. syac055. [PDF]
  • Wright, T.F. & E.P. Derryberry. 2021. Defining the multidimensional phenotype: new opportunities to integrate the behavioral ecology and behavioral neuroscience of vocal learning, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 125:328-338. [PDF]
  • Keen S.C., K. Odom, M.S. Webster, G.M. Kohn, F. Wright, & M. Araya-Salas. 2021. A machine learning approach for classifying and quantifying acoustic diversity. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 12: 1213– 1225. [PDF]
  • Araya-Salas, M., G. Smith-Vidaurre, D.J. Mennill, P.L. González-Gómez, J. Cahill, & F. Wright. 2019. Social group signatures in hummingbird displays provide evidence of co-occurrence of vocal and visual learning. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.286: 20190666. [PDF]
  • Medina-García*, A., M. Araya-Salas* & F. Wright. 2015. Does vocal learning accelerate acoustic diversification? Evolution of contact calls in Neotropical parrots. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 28:1782–1792. [PDF]

 

Lifespan and aging

As an outgrowth of my work in parrot phylogenetics and molecular evolution, my collaborators and I have developed an ongoing interest in the evolution of mitochondrial control region duplications in parrots and their connection to the extraordinary lifespans of this group. We were the first to identify a duplication of the control region in parrots; subsequently we found that these duplications had originated 5 or 6 different times in the evolutionary history of parrots and were never subsequently lost, a pattern that suggests a fitness benefit. We have compiled the most extensive database on captive parrot lifespans and are now testing the hypothesis that these duplications enhance lifespan in parrots.

  • Smeele, S.Q., D.A. Conde, A. Baudisch, S. Bruslund, A. Iwaniuk, J.Stärk, F. Wright, A.M. Young, M.B. McElreath, L. Aplin. 2022. Coevolution of brain size and longevity in parrots. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 289: 20212397. [PDF]
  • Eberhard, J.R. and F. Wright. 2016. Rearrangement and evolution of the mitochondrial genome in parrots. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94:34–46. PMCID: [PDF]
  • Schirtzinger, E.E., E.S. Tavares, L.A. Gonzales, J.R. Eberhard, C.Y. Miyaki, J.J. Sanchez, A.J. Hernandez, H. Müeller, G.R. Graves, R.C. Fleischer, & F. Wright. 2012. Multiple independent origins of mitochondrial control region duplications in the Order Psittaciformes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 64: 342-356. [PDF]
  • Young, A.M., E.A. Hobson, L.B. Lackey & F. Wright. 2012. Survival on the ark: life history trends in captive parrots. Animal Conservation. 15:28-43. [PDF]

 

Behavioral plasticity, conservation and species invasions.

Parrots are one of the most threatened taxa of birds and many species are suffering severe population declines as their native habitats are altered by human activities.  Some of our work directly examines behavioral, genetic and demographic questions that impact parrot conservation. Conversely, some parrot species have become adept invaders of novel habitats. My collaborators and I have approached this conundrum through the study of behavioral plasticity. Plasticity within the life of an individual is an important response for both species that are declining due to human activities, and to those that are increasing or invading into new human-altered landscapes.

  • Smith-Vidaurre, G., V. Perez, E.A. Hobson, A. Salinas-Melgoza & F. Wright. 2023. Individual identity information persists in learned parrot calls after invasion. PLOS Computational Biology 19(7): e1011231. [PDF]
  • Wright, T.F., C. Lewis, M. Lezama-Lopéz, G. Smith-Vidaurre & C.R. Dahlin. 2019. Yellow-naped amazon (Amazona auropalliata) populations are markedly low and rapidly declining in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Bird Conservation International. 29:291-307. [PDF]
  • Wright*, T.F., J.R. Eberhard*, E.A. Hobson, M.L. Avery & M.R. Russello. 2010. Behavioral flexibility and species invasions: the adaptive flexibility hypothesis. Ethology Ecology & Evolution. 22:393-404. *both authors contributed equally to this work [PDF]

 

Disaster ecology and the Avian Migration Program at NMSU

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and strength with global climate change. Longer-term anthropogenic impacts such as urbanization, pollution, deforestation and water diversion can also disrupt natural ecosystems. The nascent field of disaster ecology examines the interactions between disasters, anthropogenic impacts, wildlife and ecosystems. Studying these relationships can help us understand, predict and mitigate the impacts of disasters. The Avian Migration Program at NMSU is a USDA-funded program designed to train the next generation of leaders in disaster ecology. We focus on the biology and conservation of migratory birds, a group particularly impacted by ecological disasters. Students that I co-mentor in the program are studying a wide range of migration-related topics, including the use of radar and acoustic recorders to measure migration traffic, juvenile movements in great green macaws in Costa Rica, interactions between threatened Mexican ducks and migratory mallards, migratory connectivity in alpine specialist rosy-finches, habitat use in overwintering grassland sparrows, and the eco-immunology of migratory sparrows.  More information about this program and opportunities for student training and support are available at http://migration.nmsu.edu.

 

Monk parakeets in a nest at the top of an electrical pole

Monk parakeets are invasive in many parts of the US and Europe