Announcement that ABC funded every single eligible microgrant application this Febreary.

Our first round of ABC microgrants for 2026 is done, and for the first time, we were able to fund each and every eligible application! 🎉🎉🎉

We funded a total of 5 applications – this was made possible thanks to our generous donors! 🙏🏽

Spatial learning and lateralization in lizards Abstract. Spatial memory is a fundamental cognitive process that allows animals to navigate and interact with their environment effectively. While extensiv

📣 I am excited to share some new collaborative work published in Biology Letter @royalsocietypublishing.org on spatial learning and lateralisation in lizards 🦎! Check out the full OA paper here:
doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...

#AnimalCognition #ThinkLikeALizard

In part 2 we apply this framework across three tasks, and test the performance of herring and lesser black-backed gulls in the detour task, the thwarting task (often used with fish) and the stop-change task (developed from the human cognition literature) 🐦
Part 2: rdcu.be/e2pyI
5/6

We explain how this framework applies to the main tasks used to measure response inhibition in the field of animal cognition
Part 1: rdcu.be/e2pyN
4/6

Close up of a herring gull, with red around the yellow eye, and a red spot on the lower beak

🚨Not one, but two papers now out on response inhibition (also called motoric self-regulation or inhibitory control in the field of animal cognition). Many studies find no link between individual performance on different tasks supposedly measuring response inhibition.
1/6

ABC celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Let’s celebrate women and girls in science on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
UNESCO reports that women represent only 35% of STEM graduates, about 1/3 of researchers worldwide, and just 1/10 STEM leaders.

The first round of microgrants for 2026 is open! Apply here : https://opencollective.com/animal-behaviour-collective.

Attention - the first round of microgrants for 2026 is running!
Apply and read terms and conditions here : opencollective.com/animal-behav...

I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!

Round 1 of our training and travel grant is open!

Grants up to £500 are available to support the training and development of PhD students and postgraduate research assistants.

Send us your application by 25 January ⏰

Perhaps the question is not whether cows can use tools,
but why it took us so long to notice.

Maybe because we continue to underestimate the minds of the animals we eat.

Veronika is here to remind us of our biases

There is still some time to submit for our Special Collection on social cognition and anthropogenic environments! We are looking forward to hear from you! link.springer.com/collections/... Please do get in touch if you have any questions.
#openaccess #socialcognition

Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social

Very grateful to co-authors @vernouilleta.bsky.social @birgitszabo.bsky.social An Martel, Luc Lens & @fredverb.bsky.social, & other members of @ecobird.bsky.social for their support! Also pleased for this paper to be part of an exciting collection in acta ethologica link.springer.com/collections/...

New paper out!

Early-life social instability increases aggression in chickens, but does not affect response inhibition 🐤
We discuss what this means for developmental links between social environments, cognition, and social behaviour, highlighting strong context dependence

Full text: rdcu.be/eYOzC

New pre print out!
Last chapter of my PhD looking at nightjar movement with environmental conditions.
Super proud of this one, I love the interactions and thinking about what else we could do.

www.authorea.com/users/101810...

Simulation-based inference with deep learning suggests speed climbers combine innovation and copying to improve performance Abstract. In the Olympic sport of speed climbing, athletes compete to reach the top of a 15 m wall as quickly as possible. Since the standardization of the

Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗‍♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZM

✨New paper✨
How do juvenile ravens find social groups?

We describe how juvenile common ravens, who have left their natal territories seeking to join non-breeder flocks, use space with respect to other birds, and discuss what this means for social integration.

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Had a nice break seeing friends, family, and (most importantly) Tabitha

📢📢PhD opportunity!
We are looking for enthusiastic researchers to develop a project looking at the ontogeny of migratory behaviour!
Deadline for expression of interest: 8 February 2026
👉Check details here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wow2...
#migration #ornithology #GPStracking

A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage.

Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.

A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).

Hope 😍

Christmas came early, my "big chicken paper" has been accepted 🎉 very grateful to everyone involved and looking forward to sharing it soon

Tighter visa rules will cost UK up to £10.8bn giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

JOB ALERT! 🦜🔭🌿
Are you passionate about #Birds, #Ecology, #Fieldwork, #Research?
The University of Salford is looking for a #ResearchTechnician to assist with ecological monitoring of #Ringneckedparakeets in Manchester, UK.
More info & how to apply 👇
Hurry! Closes 15 Dec
@salforduni.bsky.social

Today in end-of-phd-brain: had a hyper-realistic dream where I came up with some great research ideas for an animal that, unfortunately, only existed in that dream

Relatable Corvid

I'm finding it a great excuse to use all the stickers I've been hoarding!

Love looking through all the submissions on the Gulls Eating Stuff project website. Getting pretty good coverage of the UK too!

If you have photos of gulls eating stuff, you can submit them at citsci.org/projects/gul.... Thanks to @scistarter.bsky.social for promoting the project too :).