Butterfly numbers are dropping but here are five species you may see more of A warming climate has helped some to flourish, researchers say, but the outlook is troubling.

🦋 When nature loses diversity, we all lose.
Some butterflies are coping better than others, but our State of Yorkshire’s Nature evidence is clear: rare and specialist species are most at risk.
Protecting diverse habitats is the key to a nature‑rich Yorkshire.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75kk7p41npo

Congratulations @euantheyoung.bsky.social for winning the NLSEB Prize 2025 @nlseb.bsky.social for the paper that you can find a thread about 👇

Variation in food availability affects the population age structure of Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica in the Faroe Islands Across their entire Atlantic breeding range, Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica have experienced decreases in food availability, often leading to population declines. The species is one of the most ....

‼️🚨New Paper Alert! 🚨‼️

Using a decades-long dataset on puffins in the Faroe Islands, we show a change in population age structure and relate the increase in older birds/decrease in cohort sizes to (pre-)hatch year food availability.

doi.org/10.1002/wlb3...
@kasiawojczulanis.bsky.social

It was wonderful to be involved in the work of the BOU for nine years.
If you have ever thought of volunteering to be on a BOU committee or to act as an Associate Editor, go for it!
Lovely people, working together for #ornithology and ornithologists.

Well said @jengill.bsky.social and many congratulations @wadertales.bsky.social. Excellent news and very richly deserved

Interesting paper on the cumulative effects of climate change on multiple demographic parameters in Superb Fairy-wrens. I can't remember a paper using 'presage' in the title, but I heartily approve

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is pretty cool - selecting on generation time to get independent estimates of two processes underpinning mutation rates

New paper in IBIS: We used GPS-ACC tags to explore the unknown post-fledging phase of Eurasian Spoonbills born in Portuguese wetlands.

Should they stay in their lovely natal wetland, or leave to explore new areas? 🇵🇹🧭🐥 doi.org/10.1111/ibi....

@rochafonso.bsky.social
@joseaalves.bsky.social

Researchers from the University of York and Liverpool are pioneering miniature, state-of-the-art sensors to unravel how seabirds, such as the Manx shearwater, navigate remarkable distances. This research may lead to innovative navigation systems independent of satellites. bit.ly/4sA2ZAm

What is resilience for a landscape? Check out our (with Charles Cunningham, @hannalp.bsky.social, Lauren Barnes, Chris Thomas and @janehillyork.bsky.social ) new paper now out in @peopleandnature.bsky.social Early View @anthropocenebio.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1002/pan3...

Thrilled to be part of this! Excellent work by @tashgillies.bsky.social and many others

The Incredible Journey of Monarch XSTI009 In fall 2025, approximately 470 Monarchs in the eastern U.S. were deployed with Blu+ transmitters. Of those that made it to Mexico and spent the winter there, female monarch XSTI009 (where the X…

XSTI009, originally tagged in 2025 by the Xerces Society’s own Dr. Ray Moranz in Oklahoma, crossed the Rio Grande into Texas on Saturday March 14th, making her the first tagged monarch to return from the overwintering sites in Mexico! Learn more about her journey ➡️

Unless they are actually creating habitat, organic farming & regenerative agriculture projects are not actively benefiting biodiversity

They are just farming less harmfully
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

A plot that shows how different impacts to breeding success affect population size in fulmar and guillemots. These are two UK seabird species that are included in our paper that is the subject of this post.

Need to assess the future impact of changed survival or productivity on your UK #seabird population? Want to do PVA but don't have the resources? We have run 100000 PVAs for you and built a library of those impacts! New paper by Eve Merrall, @cathorswill.bsky.social + more doi.org/10.1002/2688...

Thanks to your fantastic support and the sales, this money will help the Friends of the #LDV to deliver more for birds (and other wildlife) that use the reserve. If you're yet to purchase a copy but would still like one, please contact Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk 📖 @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Important and interesting new Forum paper in IBIS on policies for use of Generative-AI in our ornithological journals, and how use should be reported.

As a #seabird #biologist, I know all to well how difficult it can be to deploy tracking devices that last long enough on the #bird! This new study uses 3D-printed clamp systems to deploy tracking devices on #seabirds.

Read the full paper here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Figure demonstrating how the ordering of temperatures through time determines whether an ectothermic population experiencing those temperatures will go extinct

Thrilled to share that my first dissertation chapter is now published at Ecology! dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

We embed TPCs into population dynamics to show how changing temperatures' ordering — not just its distribution — increases extinction risk (i.e. heatwaves matter!)

@esajournals.bsky.social

Wow, this is an important paper. We had some evidence early on from @ukbms.bsky.social sites but rarely had good data in grazing regimes. But @tombrereton.bsky.social always said that extensive cattle was the best for butterflies and this add yet more evidence

Schematic illustration of variation in selection predominantly determined by (a) spatial effects, (b) temporal effects or (c) spatio-temporal effects

Annual variation in natural selection on two reproductive traits (egg laying date and clutch size) between 1980-2024 in blue and great tits in 8 sub-populations of Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire

Scatter plots - with associated correlation coefficients - for annual estimates of natural selection on reproductive traits in blue and great tits. Relationships are moderately to strongly correlated across years, suggesting that there are common drivers of variation in selection in both species

What most determines variation in the strength of natural selection? Spatial variation, temporal vn or space*time together? New research by @jorgensoraker.bsky.social et al. exploring this Q using 45y of Wytham tit data. Strong time & space*time signal + cross-species corr'n

doi.org/10.64898/202...

Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature - Nature A survey of tropical insect populations and thermal tolerance limits indicates that species from lowland areas have low capacity to survive increased temperatures, and that thermal tolerance is limite...

Looks like a fundamental study and approach ... Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature. Insects at high elevations utilize plasticity to cope with rising temperatures, whereas lowland species have limited plastic abilities. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪🌐

This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Hanna Kokko @kokkonut.bsky.social from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz @unimainz.bsky.social on the role of time in avian trade-offs. All welcome in person in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk 3.30pm on 6 March. Also live-streamed: details available ⬇️

Latest Wadertales blog on why timing of breeding advances more in short-distance migrants: wadertales.wordpress.com/2026/02/28/m..., from neat new @ecol-evol.bsky.social paper led by Verónica Méndez using 16 years of data on Icelandic waders: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#ornithology

Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a great tit population Abstract. Lack’s seminal work on bird clutch sizes has spurred expansive research on reproductive trade-offs, especially focusing on offspring quantity–qua

New paper out in @jevbio.bsky.social
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.

With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

After a Devastating Bird Flu Outbreak, Scotland's Seabirds Are Slowly Recovering—and So Are the Scientists Who Witnessed Their Decline The world’s largest colony of northern gannets was decimated by bird flu in 2022. Now, as their numbers climb again, researchers are collecting data to understand the virus’ lasting effects

My story for @biographic.bsky.social on the aftermath of HPAI in Northern Gannett colonies was picked up by Smithsonian Magazine! A nice thing to see while resurfacing briefly during another round of kid sick days...

A ridiculous way for BBC ‘News’ to headline an article in which it’s clear that the Wildlife Trusts’ plans are overwhelmingly popular. But it has spurred me into making a donation towards this brilliant project—if you would like to chip in too, here’s the link 👇🏻

#Northumberland #Wildlife #Rewilding

Think "non-denominational" means no religious influence at your child's school? Actually, it just means it's not tied to a specific church. Here's our CEO Fraser explaining more. Tell your MSP to vote to let school pupils opt out of religious observance: humanist.eaction.org.uk/religious-ob...

A lovely article about our research on Gannets featuring interviews with #seabirders @heyjooode.bsky.social and @sue-lewis.bsky.social

#ornithology

Custom Made: Personalised folded and framed maps Buy a personalised map with your own centre point, title and photo, using iconic Ordnance Survey mapping. From £7.99. Canvas & framed options. Free delivery

I love maps... but how did I not know about this site?! Create your own Ordnance Survey map centred wherever you wish, with choice of resolution, mapping style, even personalised cover image...

shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/custom-made/....

New tool for predicting effects of offshore wind farms on seabirds The development of offshore wind is a key instrument in the shift toward renewable energy, but such interventions can also impact marine biodiversity. Seabirds are among the most threatened bird…

Using advanced modelling, we can now better measure the lethal and non-lethal effects of #offshore #wind power plants on #seabirds - read more here: seapop.no/en/2026/02/n...
@ninanatureresearch.bsky.social