Dr. Ryan Norris, a professor in the College of Biological Science, spoke with CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks about research he and his team conducted recently on the intense sibling rivalry that juvenile Canada jays engage in. 

Norris discussed research published earlier this year that calculated the costs of Canada jay offspring rivalry – as well as the benefits to the dominant family bully that leads to exile for weaker siblings, and the right to stay on home territory for a single “family bully.” 

A professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, Norris researches the behaviour, conservation and evolution of migratory birds, insects and mammals.