A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)

ABSTRACT Little is known of the greater roadrunner's (Geococcyx californianus; roadrunner) ecology and many demographic questions are difficult to answer because of our inability to determine adult bird sex in the field. We collected measurements from live‐captured roadrunners of known sex in F...

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Main Authors: Andrea E. Montalvo, Robert A. Powell, Michael D. MACdonald, Dean Ransom Jr., Roel R. Lopez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-12-01
Series:Wildlife Society Bulletin
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.452
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author Andrea E. Montalvo
Robert A. Powell
Michael D. MACdonald
Dean Ransom Jr.
Roel R. Lopez
author_facet Andrea E. Montalvo
Robert A. Powell
Michael D. MACdonald
Dean Ransom Jr.
Roel R. Lopez
author_sort Andrea E. Montalvo
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Little is known of the greater roadrunner's (Geococcyx californianus; roadrunner) ecology and many demographic questions are difficult to answer because of our inability to determine adult bird sex in the field. We collected measurements from live‐captured roadrunners of known sex in Fisher County, Texas, USA, and from roadrunner specimens from museums and university biological collections from 2003 to 2012 to develop a predictive logistic regression model for adult sex determination. We measured 433 adult birds of which 80% (n = 346) were randomly chosen to build potential models. Our best model included the variable estimate bill depth, which was found to be larger in males and correctly classified 80% of the birds. We validated the model with the remaining 20% of measurements (n = 87) and correctly identified the sex of 85% of the birds. Because this model incorporated roadrunners from across their range, it provides an easy, inexpensive, accurate, and field‐relevant methodology for sex determination of adult roadrunners at the point of capture. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
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spelling doaj-art-f834a28f959e4a27b90b2fce414b82e02024-12-16T12:55:42ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402014-12-0138483784110.1002/wsb.452A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)Andrea E. Montalvo0Robert A. Powell1Michael D. MACdonald2Dean Ransom Jr.3Roel R. Lopez4Department of Wildlife and Fisheries SciencesTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTX77843USADepartment of Wildlife and Fisheries SciencesTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTX77843USADepartment of Biological SciencesSan Jose State UniversitySan JoseCA95192USATexas AgriLife Research and Extension CenterSan AngeloTX76901USADepartment of Wildlife and Fisheries SciencesTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTX77843USAABSTRACT Little is known of the greater roadrunner's (Geococcyx californianus; roadrunner) ecology and many demographic questions are difficult to answer because of our inability to determine adult bird sex in the field. We collected measurements from live‐captured roadrunners of known sex in Fisher County, Texas, USA, and from roadrunner specimens from museums and university biological collections from 2003 to 2012 to develop a predictive logistic regression model for adult sex determination. We measured 433 adult birds of which 80% (n = 346) were randomly chosen to build potential models. Our best model included the variable estimate bill depth, which was found to be larger in males and correctly classified 80% of the birds. We validated the model with the remaining 20% of measurements (n = 87) and correctly identified the sex of 85% of the birds. Because this model incorporated roadrunners from across their range, it provides an easy, inexpensive, accurate, and field‐relevant methodology for sex determination of adult roadrunners at the point of capture. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.452bill depthdemographicsDNA analysisfield identificationGeococcyx californianusmorphometrics
spellingShingle Andrea E. Montalvo
Robert A. Powell
Michael D. MACdonald
Dean Ransom Jr.
Roel R. Lopez
A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
Wildlife Society Bulletin
bill depth
demographics
DNA analysis
field identification
Geococcyx californianus
morphometrics
title A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
title_full A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
title_fullStr A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
title_full_unstemmed A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
title_short A morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus)
title_sort morphometric sex determination model for adult greater roadrunners geococcyx californianus
topic bill depth
demographics
DNA analysis
field identification
Geococcyx californianus
morphometrics
url https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.452
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