Brandt Ryder is a research scientist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center, which studies avian demography and behavior with an overarching focus on the grand phenomenon of migration. At the individual level, Ryder's research interests are focused on the mechanistic basis of adaptive behavioral variation. At the population level, he studies the causes of avian population declines. His research integrates field and experimental approaches, molecular and endocrine methods, as well as statistical and network modeling to answer questions about ecology, evolution and conservation of both migrant and resident birds.
Ryder's projects include:
- Quantifying the full-annual cycle drivers of population dynamics in migratory birds
- Understanding how hormone-regulatory networks modulate behavioral phenotype and social structure in wire-tailed manakins
- Characterizing the demographic, micro-evolutionary, social and dispersal dynamics of island scrub jays
- Individual repeatability in migration strategies and non-breeding carry-over effects in gray catbirds
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Fision-fusion flock network dynamics and non-breeding space use in blue jays
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Intra-tropical and comparative migration strategies of birds in South America
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Environmental impacts on breeding and molt phenology in black-throated blue warblers
