Conspecific brood parasitism in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) and other Hirundinidae - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) has been reported in more than 100 altricial avian species, yet its frequency and underlying behavioural processes remain poorly understood. We studied CBP in the ba...

Our new study shows that CONSPECIFIC BROOD PARASITISM is extremely rare in BARN SWALLOWS. We revealed mixed maternity in only six of almost 2000 broods. This strikingly contradicts previous studies that demonstrated parasitism based on unusual egg-laying patterns.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This #PhilTransB theme issue, organised by @ellileadbeater.bsky.social and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social, explores how and why animal minds have evolved to be so different from one another: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

Great tit perched on a branch, with beak slightly open. Photo credit: Alizée Vernouillet

📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us:

🐦 Quantifying (social) learning and social behaviour in an urbanised world 🐦

Position at @ceec-research.bsky.social

📆29th May deadline
More info: tinyurl.com/yz28s96x
Apply: tinyurl.com/2wpkb64y

#cognition #socialbehaviour #fieldwork #birds

🙏Please Share

A new phD position in my lab about amphibian, infection diseases in a global changing world. Check it out! And spread the word ;)

Culture was assumed to be unique to humans, but recent scientific discoveries have revealed that it's in fact widespread in the animal kingdom. This #PhilTransB issue is the first to present a comprehensive picture of the science & implications of this: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

Living in #Yorkshire? Looking for opportunities to help local #wildlife and community-based #conservation? We're seeking #volunteers to help with our new #COEXIST project to monitor human-wildlife conflict in the UK. See advert below ⬇️🌳🦡🦌🦊🦜🦫

Early-life microbiome assembly and its effects on bird phenotypes We are looking for a motivated Masters/HBO/internship student to partake in upcoming microbiome manipulation experiments, investigating how this fascinating community impacts phenotypes in birds. Star...

Looking for MSc student(s) to be involved in some really cool germ-free experiments with house sparrows at @niooknaw.bsky.social @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social ! 🐣🦠Get in touch if you're interested and please share :)
nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

Post-doc opportunity on comparative cognition and movement dynamics in corvids with the brilliant Prof Debbie Kelly at the University of Manitoba

And here we thought P2 was the devil's machine.. 😂

cat's out of the bag (for a couple months now) - very happy to return to research on thermal stress/tolerance/plasticity, this time with birds!

(2) Maria Correia studied the effects of #microbiota produced #metabolites, particularly short-chained fatty acids (butyrate) on #mitochondria, whole animal #metabolism and cold tolerance, via experimental supplement. Massive amount of data collected, super well done!

Meanwhile, lots of great things
happened. During the winter we ran 3 major experiments focusing on understanding the role of #microbiota on #thermal #physiology in birds. Stijn Kouwenberg studied consequences of locally adapted microbiota on cold tolerance via reciprocal microbiome #transplants (1)

I'm going as well!

New paper on common cuckoo behaviour is out! When cuckoo females parasitize a nest, they always take an egg out. And we found that they strongly prefer red over green experimental eggs. Check what we think about it: doi.org/10.1016/j.be...
@lisandrinamari.bsky.social

Anonymous survey — device failures in bird biologging studies Purpose: We are collecting anonymous information about device failures in bird biologging research to help practitioners plan robust, ethical studies. Responses will be aggregated for a peer-reviewed ...

Have any of your biologging devices ever failed? ⁉️

If so, we’d like to hear from you! 👂

Researchers at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, are investigating biologger device failure rates to help improve research practices. 🎓

The survey takes just 10 minutes to complete:
forms.gle/fZW9n2dojJVB...

A new issue of #PhilTransB celebrates variability in animal #physiology research. Read #OA: buff.ly/mAzN7wF

Epigenetics in Captivity: Restoring Wild Phenotypes in Captive‐Reared Salmonids Captive rearing is a common practice for the stocking, conservation, and supplementation of fish species worldwide, but captive-reared fish can exhibit altered phenotypes leading to reduced fitness i...

My lab’s first publication is out now! MSc student Tia Attfield reviewed the current captive rearing literature in salmonids and provides perspectives on how epigenomics can help.

Huge thanks to all our co-authors for their expert insights!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New Frontiers in Avian Physiology: What’s Migration got to do with it?: Journal of Avian Biology Click on the title to browse this issue

🔈Really happy to see this one ⬇️ out! 🎉

Great to see this compilation of studies finally published. Thanks to all the authors, reviewers and the team @avianbiology.bsky.social who made this possible!

Editorial: nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#Ornithology #Physiology #Migration

In a reply to Guevara-Fiore, L.A. Rueda, F. Vargas & I wrote a commentary (doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arag008) claiming, based on our own experience 🐸, that studies on nat. hist. & behaviour can be conducted in forested areas within university campuses or woodlands by relatives' homes, and on ⬇️💰(4/5)

In a follow-up essay (also in @behavecol.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araf125), P. Guevara-Fiore wrote about what it means to turn to Natural history in practice, particularly for scientists working in countries with limited research capacity and Early Career Researchers. (2/5)

PhD position in behavioural ecology – Cognitive fish welfare We offer a 4 year PhD Position to work in the multidisciplinary project “Cognitive fish welfare” within the Behavioural Ecology chair group at the Animal Science Department, in collaboration with the ...

Few days left! PhD available at Wageningen University&Research for an exciting project on Cognitive Fish Welfare 🐟 How environmental enrichment shapes behaviour, cognition & physiology in farmed fish. Supervisor Prof. A. Kotrschal; co-supervisor Dr. L. Pettinau. Please repost! #Fishsci

NEW in Journal of Vertebrate Biology:
We video recorded 284 common cuckoo parasitism events and showed that cuckoo females do not use their "bubbling" call as a counter-defence strategy in two warbler hosts in Europe and Asia doi.org/10.25225/jvb...
@czechacademy.bsky.social @ivb-cas.bsky.social

Thank you!

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.

My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/

academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

Further integrating social context into comparative and environmental physiology Summary: Social environments affect all aspects of animal physiology. We highlight how overlooking social effects might lead to inaccurate physiology-based predictions of species’ responses to environ...

🚨New paper out now! Excited to see this commentary, led by @shaunkillen.bsky.social, showing that social context is key in comparative physiology and must be integrated! Read more here: doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... #ComparativePhysiology #Behaviour #Ecophysiology @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk @jexpbiol.bsky.social

the whole situation's just baffling

Recent breeding experience improves egg ejection behaviour Abstract. Recognizing one’s own eggs is crucial for birds, especially for hosts of brood parasites that must identify and reject different-looking parasiti

Hot off the press 🐣 Do birds have any idea of what their eggs look like? Contrary to our expectations, we show that barn swallows don't, nor do they learn it over time. Yet that doesn't stop them from successfully ejecting foreign eggs!
🔗 Read more here: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... #OpenAccess

Recent breeding experience improves egg ejection behaviour Abstract. Recognizing one’s own eggs is crucial for birds, especially for hosts of brood parasites that must identify and reject different-looking parasiti

Hot off the press 🐣 Do birds have any idea of what their eggs look like? Contrary to our expectations, we show that barn swallows don't, nor do they learn it over time. Yet that doesn't stop them from successfully ejecting foreign eggs!
🔗 Read more here: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... #OpenAccess

Using gen AI means sacrificing accuracy for convenience. Its purpose is to cut corners. If that’s how you roll, science has no need for you.

The myth of the metabolic baseline: sleep–wake cycles undermine a foundational assumption in organismal biology Basal and standard metabolic rate (BMR and SMR) are cornerstones of physiological ecology and are assumed to be relatively fixed intrinsic properties of organisms that represent the minimum energy re....

New paper out!! In this review, we discuss what really is SMR when we take into account the sleep state dependent partitioning of the processes that make up this baseline value, and how do we move forward with the assumption SMR isn't a static value.....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...