DPhil. Student

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Amy Hinks

Amy Hinks

Details

Name: Amy Hinks
Position: DPhil. Student
Email: amy.hinks@linacre.ox.ac.uk

Autobiography

I graduated from University of Durham in 2004 with a BSc in Natural Sciences and completed an MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at Imperial College London in 2006. For my Masters thesis, I investigated the effect of various environmental factors (habitat quality and anthropogenic disturbance) on the reproductive success of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). This sparked my interest in the exciting research potential of studying the ecology of nest box populations and I am now undertaking a DPhil studying great tit (Parus major) ecology, under the guidance of Prof. Ben Sheldon and Dr. Teddy Wilkin.

Research Activities

My thesis investigates the tri-trophic interactions between great tits, the larvae of the winter moth (Operophtera brumata) on which they predominately rear their offspring and pedunculate oaks (Quercus rober), which is the main host for this transiently abundant food resource. More specifically, my research focuses on the spatial scale at which great tits respond to phenological cues as to the optimal time to breed.

In order to address my research aims, I have monitored the leafing phenology of all oak trees in Marley Wood (part of the Wytham Wood estate) for the last three years and compared this with both the timing of emergence and peak abundance of caterpillars and the timing of great tit breeding attempts. The impact of spatio-temporally variable food resources on the reproductive decisions of individual great tits was assessed through the use of data loggers on occupied nest boxes to collect information on parental provisioning frequency and video recorders inside nest boxes to estimate the proportion of prey that is caterpillars. Furthermore, radio tracking of a select number of individuals was conducted during the 2009 breeding season to establish how foraging locations and distances vary according to the degree of synchrony between timing of breeding and the local peak in food availability.

Selected Recent Papers

Watch this space!