Cycles in biological systems are all pervasive in nature. Birds like any other species express daily rhythms in almost all behavioral and physiological phenotypes. Most bird species also show long-term cycles in feeding behaviour, body fattening (in migrants), reproduction, molt or migration. Both daily and seasonal behaviors are under the strict control of the endogenous clock mechanisms, but the role of environment remains critical for optimal performance and ultimately the survival. Synchrony with the environment is achieved through interaction of clock component with external cues (e.g., photoperiod, temperature and food availability), and internal co-ordination among different rhythmic physiological correlates. Our interest is to learn about how birds achieve precision in timing their daily and seasonal activities in sync with the periodic environment. We are interested in analyzing whether natural ecological responses conform to daily and seasonal periodicities in sync with the natural environment.

The current interest focuses more on lab-to-land approach. More specifically, a part of research interest lies in reproductive biology of birds, especially rare and endangered species, mitigating infertility, developing assisted reproductive technologies, gamete cryopreservation, avian forensics, genome resource banking, avian genomics, etc. We are also interested in developing species-specific DNA and feather signatures for birds to generate a comprehensive database for Indian birds which could be a valuable reference for forensic analysis and various other fields including phylogenetics. Besides, the research in Prime Minister professorship centers around the understanding and mitigating climate change impacts on the livestock, mainly cattle (cows), goats, birds and fishes in and around the areas of Central University of South Bihar, which is characterized as semi-arid geographical zone of the country.

The main biological systems that we are currently focus on in our research on biodiversity, behavioral ecology, climate adaptation mainly include chicken, Asian Openbill (a stork), jungle wabbler, and female cows. The techniques that we use are:

• Un-obstructive monitoring of behaviors both by manual and video recordings
• Pathogenicity and bacterial load in selected birds
• Histological assays of blood
• Hormone and metabolite assays
• Non-invasive study of seasonality through feather, fecal matter, plumage etc.
• PCR and Real time quantitative PCR
• Genome sequencing