Dra. Vanina D. Fiorini

Researcher CONICET | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

My interests are focused on the ecology and animal behavior. I received my Bachelor'sdegree in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires in 2000 and my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires in 2007. I am a Research Fellow of CONICET (National Council of Scientific and Technical Research). My studies are developed through three lines of research. The first focuses on the adaptations of parasitic cowbirds of the genus (Molothrus) and their coevolutionary relationships with hosts. Some of the questions that I try to answer, together with students and colleagues, are: 1) how do juvenile cowbirds recognize their conspecifics? 2) how do brood parasites affect the growth and development of host chicks?, and 3) do cowbird chicks benefit from sharing the nest with conspecific chicks? As a second line, I investigate the effect of climate change on the reproductive biology of resident bird species in the Talars of Buenos Aires. In particular, we studied the relationships between temperature and precipitation on the success of the Chalk-browed Mockingbird (Mimus saturninus) and the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon).
Additionally, we want to determine how thermal stress, caused by extremely high temperatures, affects the cognitive mechanisms of birds, which in turn impact their reproductive success. Finally, my third line of work is based on the study of the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), an exotic species in Argentina. We analyze the genetic variability of exotic populations from the USA and Argentina and a native population of Europe. If you are interested in some of these topics and would like to start an undergraduate or graduate thesis, you can write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..