Faculty
Professors | Lecturers | Affiliate | Postdocs | Emeritus
Professors
David Delehanty, Ph.D.
Professor
Behavioral Biology of Birds
Office: Life Sciences 319
Biographical Sketch
I teach graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses in Ornithology, Animal Behavior, Environmental Physiology, and Conservation Biology. I advise and support graduate students at the PhD and MS levels and serve on graduate committees. My research program centers on the reproductive biology of birds and their conservation and restoration within historic ranges. I am carrying out a suite of studies on wild and captive birds that investigate the role of diet on fecundity, effects of predation threat and uncertainty on parental incubation decisions, effects of cryptic sexual selection on reproductive physiology and behavior, and development of restoration strategies that account for physiological and behavioral traits of threatened species. Current research projects include investigating the relationship between sage grouse nest success and land use within the sagebrush steppe, restoration of mountain quail to Idaho, and functional dynamics of reproductive tract asymmetry in birds. I was heavily involved in two native bird restoration projects for the state of Nevada (mountain quail and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse) in cooperation with federal and state agencies, non-governmental conservation groups, and universities. My research on the relationship between dietary consumption of plant carotenoid pigments and steroid-mediated reproductive performance provides a link between habitat conditions and annual fecundity of female birds. I curate the ornithological collection for the Idaho Museum of Natural History, an accredited regional natural history museum and state natural history repository, and I am heavily involved with faculty governance within Idaho State University.
Education
1997, Ph.D. Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
1991, M.S. Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
1985, B.S. Wildlife Management, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Selected Publications
Coates, P. S., and D. J. Delehanty. 2007. Efficacy of CPTH-treated egg baits for removing common ravens. Human-Wildlife Conflicts 1: 224-234.
Lowe, B. S., and D. J. Delehanty. 2007. Greater sage-grouse use of threetip sagebrush communities in Idaho's Great Rift Region. Pp. 167-170 in (S. Hughes, ed.) Idaho's Great Rift Symposium, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho.
Coates, P. S., and D. J. Delehanty. 2006. Using sharp-tailed grouse movement patterns to guide release site selection. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34: 1376-1382.
Coates, P. S., and D. J. Delehanty. 2006 Effect of capture date on nest-attempt rate of translocated sharp-tailed grouse. Wildlife Biology 12: 277-283.
O'Hearn, P. P., L. M. Romero, R. Carlson, and D. J. Delehanty. 2005. Effective subcutaneous implantation of radio-transmitters into the furcular cavity of chukar. Wildlife Society Bulletin 33: 1033-1046.