Cockburn Group - Evolutionary ecology
Current work focuses on cooperative breeding of superb fairy-wrens and woodswallows.
About
Cooperative breeding occurs where more than two individuals combine to rear a single brood of young. It is extraordinarily prevalent in the Australian avifauna, for both phylogenetic and ecological reasons, and we are conducting a number of studies to understand this prevalence. Current work focuses on superb fairy-wrens and woodswallows, though we have worked with kookaburras, bee-eaters, kingfishers, thornbills, choughs and parrots.
Awards
- President of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (from 2018 to 2020), 2018
- Member of the Order of Australia (AM), 2011
- Ellis Troughton Memorial Award, 2010
- Fellowship (Honorary Life Member) of the Australian Mammal Society, 2010
- Peter Baume Award, 2006
- Nils von Hofsten Award, 2006
- DL Serventy Medal, 2004
- Centenary Medal, 2003
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, 2001
- Distinguished Visiting Ecologist, Colorado State University, 1993
- Gottschalk Medal, 1988
- Edgeworth David Medal for Zoology, 1987
- Whitley Award, 1985
Publications
Selected publications
- Cockburn, A 2013, 'Cooperative Breeding in Birds: Toward a Richer Conceptual Framework', in Kim Sterelny, Richard Joyce, Brett Calcott & Ben Fraser (ed.), Cooperation and Its Evolution, MIT Press, London, pp. 223-246.
- Dalziell, A, Peters, R, Cockburn, A et al 2013, 'Dance choreography is coordinated with song repertoire in a complex avian display', Current Biology, vol. 23, no. 12, pp. 1132-1135.
- van de Pol, M, Brouwer, L, Brooker, L et al 2013, 'Problems with using large-scale oceanic climate indices to compare climatic sensitivities across populations and species', Ecography, vol. 36, pp. 249-255.
- Cockburn, A, Brouwer, L, Double, M et al 2013, 'Evolutionary origins and persistence of infidelity in Malurus: the least faithful birds', Emu, vol. 113, pp. 208-217.
- Margraf, N & Cockburn, A 2013, 'Helping behaviour and parental care in fairy-wrens (Malurus)', Emu, vol. 113, pp. 294-301.
- Buchanan, K & Cockburn, A 2013, 'Fairy-wrens and their relatives (Maluridae) as model organisms in evolutionary ecology: the scientific legacy of Ian Rowley and Eleanor Russell', Emu, vol. 113, pp. i-vii.
- Aplin, L & Cockburn, A 2012, 'Ecological selection and sexual dimorphism in the sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus', Austral Ecology, vol. 37, pp. 248-257.
- van de Pol, M, Osmond, H & Cockburn, A 2012, 'Fluctuations in population composition dampen the impact of phenotypic plasticity on trait dynamics in superb fairy-wrens', Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 81, no. 2, pp. 411-422.
- Remes, V, Matysiokova, B & Cockburn, A 2012, 'Nest predation in New Zealand songbirds: Exotic predators, introduced prey and long-term changes in predation risk', Biological Conservation, vol. 148, pp. 54-60.
- Remes, V, Matysiokova, B & Cockburn, A 2012, 'Long-term and large-scale analyses of nest predation patterns in Australian songbirds and a global comparison of nest predation rates', Journal of Avian Biology, vol. 43, pp. 435-444.
All publications
Members
News
Superb fairy-wrens are facing “imminent danger” and a well-studied population in Canberra could go extinct in the next 30 years if we don’t urgently curb greenhouse gas emissions, warn an international team of scientists including researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), James Cook University (JCU) and Hainan University.
Helen Osmond has watched the ins and outs of one superb fairy-wren population for three decades.
Spring isn't all it's quacked up to be. Pollen levels are high, magpies are terrorising cyclists and pedestrians alike, and protective duck parents are in attack mode.