Dr. George Farnsworth Department of Biology Xavier University 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45207 (513) 745-2062 Office: Albers 312A Email: Farnsworth@xavier.edu

Courses:

Animal Behavior (BIOL 244) Fall Semester
Human Anatomy & Physiology (BIOL 140) Fall Semester
General Biology II (BIOL 162) Spring Semester
Seminar: Environmental Studies (BIOL 398) Spring Semester
Biodiversity & Conservation in Ireland (BIOL 115) Summer [Information]
Tropical Biodiversity in Costa Rica (BIOL 255) January Intersession click here

Research:

The MOXIE Laboratory studies the ecology and behavior of Northern Mockingbirds on the campus of Xavier University in Cincinnati. 
 

Below is a video showing two example trials from our recent study to test the abilities of wild Northern Mockingbirds to discriminate on the basis of number of sticks. The bird can access mealworms by pulling all of the sticks on either side of the feeder.  In this example, it is easier to get the mealworms if the bird pulls sticks from the side with two sticks.

Other activities:

Advisor for Biology Club
Advisor for Applied Biology Major
Advisor for Environmental Studies Minor

Personal:

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Publications:
    Peer-reviewed scientific journals:

Farnsworth, G.L. and J.L. Smolinski. 2006. Numerical discrimination by wild Northern Mockingbirds. Condor 108:953-957.

Simons, T.R., S.A. Shriner, and G.L. Farnsworth. 2006. Comparison of breeding bird and vegetation communities in primary and secondary forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Biological Conservation. 129: 302-311. Click here for pdf.

Farnsworth, G.L. 2005. Failure of a free-living Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) to discriminate food rewards on the basis of number. Ohio Journal of Science 105: 97-99. Click here.

Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons. 2005. Relationship between Mayfield nest-survival estimates and seasonal fecundity: A cautionary reply. Auk. 122: 1000-1001. Click here for the pdf.  Click here for corresponding Excel® model.

Farnsworth, G.L., K.H. Pollock, J.D. Nichols, T.R. Simons, J.E. Hines, and J.R. Sauer. 2002. A removal model for estimating detection probabilities from point count surveys. Auk 119: 414-425. Click here for manuscript. Click here for supplement to manuscript. 

Pollock, K.H., J.D. Nichols, T.R. Simons, G.L. Farnsworth, L.L. Bailey, and J.R. Sauer. 2002. The design of large scale wildlife monitoring studies. Environmetrics. 13: 105-119. Click here

Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R.Simons. 2001. How many Baskets? Clutch sizes that maximize annual fecundity of multiple-brooded birds. Auk. 118:973–982.

Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons. 2000. Observations of Wood Thrush nest predators in a large contiguous forest. Wilson Bulletin 112:82-87.

Farnsworth, G.L., K.C. Weeks, and T.R. Simons. 2000. Validating the assumptions of the Mayfield method. Journal of Field Ornithology 71:658-664.

Simons, T.R., G.L. Farnsworth, and S.A. Shriner. 2000. Evaluating Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a population source for the Wood Thrush. Conservation Biology 14:1133-1144.

Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons. 1999. Factors affecting nesting success of Wood Thrushes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Auk 116:1075-1082.

Peer-reviewed book chapters and proceedings volumes:
 

Farnsworth, G.L., J.D. Nichols, J.R. Sauer, S.G. Fancy, K.H. Pollock, S.A. Shriner, and T.R. Simons. 2005. Statistical approaches to the analysis of point count data: a little extra information can go a long way. Pages 736-743 In Bird conservation implementation and integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the third international partners in flight conference. March 22-24, 2002. Asilomar, California, Volume 2 (C.J. Ralph and T.D. Rich, Eds.). Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. Click here

Pollock, K.H., H. Marsh, L.L. Bailey, G.L. Farnsworth, T.R. Simons, and M.W. Alldredge.  2004. Separating components of detection probability in abundance estimation: an overview with diverse examples. Pages 43-58 In Sampling rare or elusive species (W.L. Thompson, Ed.)  Island Press. Covelo, CA.

Shriner, S.A, T.R. Simons, and G.L. Farnsworth. 2002. A GIS-based habitat model for Wood Thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Chapter 47 (pages 529-535) In Predicting Species Occurrences: Issues of Accuracy and Scale (J.M. Scott, P.J. Heglund, M.L. Morrison, J.B. Haufler, M.G. Raphael, W.A. Wall, and F.B. Samson, Eds.) Island Press. Covelo, CA.

Farnsworth, G.L. and T.R. Simons. 1999. Is Great Smoky Mountains National Park acting as a population source for Wood Thrushes? Pages 109-113 In On the Frontiers of Conservation: Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Research and Resource Management in Parks and on Public Lands (David Harmon, Ed.).

Moments of Zen:

Hummingbird
Robin