Native Bird HabitatKirsten Keleher
2026 The Frances M. Peacock Scholarship for Native Bird Habitat
Maintaining the Sonoran Desert Ecosystem: Understanding a Critical Bird-Flower Relationship
My research aims to understand what floral traits are important in attracting birds to pollinate saguaro cacti in the American Southwest. Saguaros are not typical "bird-flowers" but are pollinated by white-winged doves, Gila woodpeckers, curve-billed thrashers, and cactus wrens, among others. Through long term studies, I will examine how pollination communities and behaviors have changed over the last 22 years. Using physiological tests and preference assays, I will determine what floral traits are important in attracting these birds to saguaro flowers.
School: Cornell University
The Frances M. Peacock Scholarship for Native Bird Habitat
To provide financial aid to study areas in the United States that provide seasonal habitat for threatened or endangered native birds and to tend useful information for land-management decisions.
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