The Burns lab recently received a 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study two closely related hummingbirds, the Rufous and the Allen’s Hummingbirds. The grant was awarded in collaboration with Chris Clark and Alan Brelsford, both at the University of California Riverside. Rufous and Allen’s Hummingbirds have unique courtship behaviors, including dives and other displays. The two species form a hybrid zone in Oregon where hybrids perform combinations of the two species courtship behaviors. The goal of the project is to examine genetics, morphology, and behavior across the hybrid zone to better understand processes leading to speciation. This work forms the core of Brian Myers’s PhD thesis.

Allen’s and Rufous Hummingbirds