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Welcome to the web page of the Integrative Avian Biology Laboratory at ISU. Dr. Joseph Casto heads the lab and, together with undergraduate and graduate student researchers, conducts laboratory and field-based research on a variety of topics in integrative avian biology. Our current research  focuses on the influences of environmental factors such as parasites and temperature on nestling development and phenotypic plasticity, neural and endocrine control of singing and other social behaviors, and a variety of other research questions in avian endocrinology, ecoimmunology, and reproduction. 

Research interests

• maternal effects on embryonic and nestling development   
• parental and offspring responses to ectoparasitism   
• causes and consequences of asynchronous hatching   
• neural and endocrine coordination of social behaviors​