Institution: Cornell University
Department: Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca, NY 14850
Hubbard Brook Role: Investigator
MichaelWebster

Research Interests

Avian behavioral ecology. My research focuses on how sexual selection and other evolutionary forces shapes the mating behavior and communication signals of wild birds. One key area of research focuses on the evolution of plumage and song signals, and in particular the factors underlying variation in signals within and across populations. A second major focus is on the effects of ecological factors on individual reproductive strategies, including how those strategies are evolving in the face of on-going anthropogenic change. These projects are conducted on Australian fairy-wrens and North American warblers, though some of my students also work on other systems. As Director of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I am also dedicated to outreach that helps others experience and appreciate animal behavior and the evolutionary processes that have shaped our natural world. Current collaborative projects at Hubbard Brook focus on behavioral responses of migratory birds to environmental change, including warming springs and an extended “green period”.

Hubbard Brook Publications by this Author

Kaiser, S. A., Grabenstein, K. C., Sillett, T. S., & Webster, M. S. (2023). No evidence of sex ratio manipulation by black-throated blue warblers in response to food availability. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 77(11), 124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-023-03401-y
Symes, L. B., Kittelberger, K. D., Stone, S. M., Holmes, R. T., Jones, J. S., Castaneda Ruvalcaba, I. P., Webster, M. S., & Ayres, M. P. (2022). Analytical approaches for evaluating passive acoustic monitoring data: A case study of avian vocalizations. Ecology and Evolution, 12(4), e8797. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8797
Germain, R. R., Hallworth, M. T., Kaiser, S. A., Sillett, T. S., & Webster, M. S. (2020). Variance in within-pair reproductive success drives the opportunity for sexual selection annually and over the lifetimes of males in a multi-brooded songbird. BioRxiv, 2020.03.03.974790. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.03.974790
Smith, M. G., Kaiser, S. A., Sillett, T. S., & Webster, M. S. (2018). Variation in nest characteristics and brooding patterns of female Black-throated Blue Warblers is associated with thermal cues. The Auk, 135(3), 733–747. https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-17-195.1
Cramer, E. R. A., Kaiser, S. A., Webster, M. S., Sillett, T. s., & Ryder, T. b. (2017). Characterizing selection in black-throated blue warblers using a sexual network approach. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30(12), 2177–2188. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13183
Kaiser, S. A., Taylor, S. A., Chen, N., Sillett, T. S., Bondra, E. R., & Webster, M. S. (2017). A comparative assessment of SNP and microsatellite markers for assigning parentage in a socially monogamous bird. Molecular Ecology Resources, 17(2), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12589
Kaiser, S. A., Risk, B. B., Sillett, T. S., & Webster, M. S. (2017). Ecological and Social Factors Constrain Spatial and Temporal Opportunities for Mating in a Migratory Songbird. The American Naturalist, 189(3), 283–296. https://doi.org/10.1086/690203
Townsend, A. K., Cooch, E. G., Sillett, T. S., Rodenhouse, N. L., Holmes, R. T., & Webster, M. S. (2016). The interacting effects of food, spring temperature, and global climate cycles on population dynamics of a migratory songbird. Global Change Biology, 22(2), 544–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13053
Kaiser, S. A., Sillett, T. S., Risk, B. B., & Webster, M. S. (2015). Experimental food supplementation reveals habitat-dependent male reproductive investment in a migratory bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 282(1803), 20142523. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2523
Kaiser, S. A., Sillett, T. S., & Webster, M. S. (2014). Phenotypic plasticity in hormonal and behavioural responses to changes in resource conditions in a migratory songbird. Animal Behaviour, 96, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.07.004
Townsend, A. K., Sillett, T. S., Lany, N. K., Kaiser, S. A., Rodenhouse, N. L., Webster, M. S., & Holmes, R. T. (2013). Warm Springs, Early Lay Dates, and Double Brooding in a North American Migratory Songbird, the Black-Throated Blue Warbler. PLoS ONE, 8(4), e59467. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059467
Colbeck, G. J., Webster, M. S., Marra, P. P., & Gibbs, H. L. (2008). Phylogeography of a widespread North American migratory songbird (Setophaga ruticilla):  isolation by distance and evidence for an Atlantic coastal shelf Pleistocene refugium. Journal of Heredity, 99, 453–463.
Davis, L. A., Roalson, E. H., Cornell, K. L., McClanahan, K. D., & Webster, M. S. (2006). Genetic divergence and migration patterns in a North American passerine bird: implications for evolution and conservation. Molecular Ecology, 15, 2141–2152.
Smith, S. B., Webster, M. S., & Holmes, R. T. (2005). The heterozygosity theory of extra-pair mate choice in birds: a test and a cautionary note. Journal of Avian Biology, 36, 146–154. https://unh.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3677463
Smith, T. B., Marra, P. P., Webster, M. S., Lovette, I., Gibbs, H. L., Holmes, R. T., Hobson, K. A., & Rohwer, S. (2003). A call for feather sampling. The Auk, 120, 218–221.
Webster, M. S., Marra, P. P., Haig, S. M., Bensch, S., & Holmes, R. T. (2002). Links between worlds: unraveling migratory connectivity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17, 76–83.
Webster, M. S., Chuang-Dobbs, H. C., & Holmes, R. T. (2001). Microsatellite identification of extra-pair sires in a socially monogramous warbler. Behavioral Ecology, 12, 439–446.
Chuang-Dobbs, H. C., Webster, M. S., & Holmes, R. T. (2001). The effectiveness of mate guarding by male Black-throated Blue Warblers. Behavioral Ecology, 12, 541–546.
Chuang-Dobbs, H. C., Webster, M. S., & Holmes, R. T. (2001). Paternity and parental care in the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). Animal Behavior, 62, 83–92.
Chuang, H. C., Webster, M. S., & Holmes, R. T. (1999). Extrapair paternity and local synchrony in the Black-throated Blue Warbler. The Auk, 116(3), 726–736.