Kent Farm, which lies 7 miles east of campus, is part of the IU Research and Teaching preserve and provides green space for field studies of birds. The Kent Farm Bird Observatory (KFBO) is a 2000 sq ft facility located at Kent Farm that allows us to house captive juncos in indoor and outdoor free-flight aviaries where we can control the birds' environment in common garden experiments or via manipulations of photoperiod or the social environment.
Located at the farm is the Kent Farm Banding Station, where Ketterson lab members study free-living slate-colored juncos (Junco hyemalis hyemalis) in their wintering range in Indiana.
Past research on wintering juncos has looked at migratory behavior, immune function, and the effects of urbanization. Other species under study include fox sparrows, tree sparrows, and other emberizids.
