A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird
© M. C. Stoddard
Welcome to the Stoddard Lab.
Why do we observe such striking variation in animal colors, patterns and structures in the natural world? What evolutionary processes shape these differences, and what mechanisms are responsible? We use a multidisciplinary approach to explore key questions in evolution, behavior and sensory ecology, with a focus on visual communication and signaling in birds, the most colorful terrestrial vertebrates.
Our major research topics include animal coloration and patterning, avian color vision, and the evolution of eggs. Within these themes, we investigate plumage evolution, iridescence, multimodal communication and sexual selection, brood parasitism and coevolution, spatial vision and pattern recognition, mimicry and camouflage, pollination behavior, and the evolution of signals used for species and individual recognition. Beyond color, we have a deep interest in avian physiology and the structure and function of morphological traits, which we investigate currently in avian eggs.
Our work incorporates techniques from computer science, mathematics, optics, physiology, animal behavior, mechanical engineering and comparative genomics. Our research combines experiments in the lab and field with studies based in museum collections, especially at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Our main field sites are at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, and the Mountain Lake Biological Station in Pembroke, Virginia, where we are investigating hummingbird color vision. Back in the lab, we are passionate about developing new optical, hardware and software tools for the study of animal color, and we are committed to making these resources available to the scientific community.
Finding solutions to some of the most pressing environmental challenges we face will require a fundamental understanding of birds and the ecosystems they inhabit. We are eager to apply our work in ways that will help protect the planet. For more information about our outreach efforts, check out the Princeton Better for Birds Project.
Here’s how our work IS HELPING to PROTECT THE PLANET.
Calling All ARTISTS!
Submit your Design to our “Safer skies” bird-safe window contest
Would you like your art to help protect birds? Submit your design to our window decal contest! Three designs will be selected and applied as bird-friendly decals to windows across campus, with the goal of reducing harmful collisions with windows. The deadline for submitting your decal design is Sunday, March 16. You can find all of the information about the contest here: birds.scholar.princeton.edu/about-safer-skies
