Behrend professor to establish bird colony
Behrend microbiology professor uses the campus as a petri dish for the continuation of her study of microflora that coats certain bird eggs.
Dr. Beth Potter wanted to expand her research of the the community of microorganisms that live on eggs, an area of research of which she needed birds first.
Potter’s first thought to accessing eggs was using house wrens, a common bird that nests in almost anything. Repurposing several nest boxes that were left on the property of the old St. John Kanty Preparatory School that was purchased by Penn State in 2010.
Potter enjoyed reaching out of her comfort zone when she would regularly check the nesting boxes, “I was always an ‘in the lab’ type of person,” she said according to Penn State News, “so that was a nice change. It was interesting, being out there.”
The property, though, was too distant to check regularly once the grass had began to grow higher, especially for students who would oftentimes be the ones collecting samples from the nesting boxes.
Potter then made the decision to change from examining house wrens to Purple Martins. An acrobatic bird that assemble in large colonies around open water. Considering the behavioral patterns of the bird, Potter partnered with the Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA), a non-profit organization located in Erie that maintains nest boxes specifically for Purple Martins.
The change proved successful, Potter and her students able to swab eggs in the colonies by PCMA to analyze bacteria on the shells. A new question emerged, though, after the appearance of a Pseudomonas. Because Pseudomonas is a bacteria with little enteric, or intestinal, bacteria that is passed through the intestinal tract, there are speculations that the eggs are coated after they’re laid.
The current trial of Purple Martin populations in Erie is not a first for Potter, though, In 2015, she wanted to form a colony of Purple Martins. Donations are used from former alumni and former executive director of PMCA, John Tautin. Potter places tall poles with 12 gourd-shaped Purple Martin houses attached in the field behind OBS on campus.
She then played Purple Martin calls using a CD player in hopes to draw other birds to her colony. A single family with four hatchlings were attracted. She advanced the bird calls in this area of Purple Martin houses to a four hours of bird chatter every morning and a plastic bait bird on the top of the pole. This warranted six eggs that shells were able to be examined.
Potter knows that Purple Martin colonies can take years to form, and hopes to establish a site where the bird’s return.
“Purple Martins are a finicky bird,” Potter said. “You have to work to get them to come to you. We’re getting there.”