Grateful to work on Middleton I. with the Institute for Seabird Research and Conservation, and particularly proud of two student co-authors, Stephanie Walsh ('24) and Sierra Pete (MS '24). #seabirds #seabird #kittiwakes #BLKI #middletonisland
Begging & feeding also increased with endogenous cort. Finally, as expected, effects of hormones on behavior were context-specific: corticosterone-behavior relationships were only found in control nests, with low natural food availability. They were eliminated in supplementally-fed nests.
We found rapid (within an hour) increases in aggression, particularly in male chicks, following endogenous or exogenous elevation of corticosterone. This is a much shorter time scale than people usually consider when manipulating corticosterone and looking for behavioral effects.
6 back-lot reacangles in a dark wall look out onto nests constainting white and gray gulls (kittiwakes). The nest window in the top window shows an adult with an open mouth and a small fluffy white chick reaching into the mouth with its black beak, trying to get regurgitated food. In the foreground, a compact video camera with a screen shows the view of the nest being video recorded.
Each kittiwake nest site has one-way mirrored glass, allowing close observation and access to the nest residents. We experimentally evoked elevations in chick corticosterone a) endogenously (15 min restraint) and b) exogenously (topical in DMSO) and quantified chick behavior for 1hr before & after.
A 3-story, dodecahedral grey cement tower rises from vegetation. On the top third of the tower, horizintal cross-beans are dotted with white - each white spot is a small gull called a black-legged kittiwake. They are nesting on these cross-pieces on the outside face of the tower.
We took advantage of the unrivaled set-up in "The Tower" on Middleton Island, AK to run a set of experiments with free-living Black-legged kittiwake chicks (Rissa tridactyla).
Happy to advance another Middleton Island kittiwake project (rapid behavior changes associated with endogenous and exogenous corticosterone increases). This field site provides surreal access to these #seabirds - it's a dream for studying the physiology/behavior interface in free-living animals.
Nooooo! I had tayra to take the whole thing!!
Image showing the Hobson Lab logo (monk parakeets flying into a social network diagram with R code in the background), pictures of natural-colored green and gray monk parakeets, and head shots of our individually-marked birds showing their color combos and "names" (Blue-Orange-Blue has those colors on the head, cheek, and neck, and is "BOB"). Text says "Postbac position: parakeet sociality & cognition"
I am recruiting 1-2 postbacs for my parakeet sociality & cognition project! This position is for people finished with undergrad but who have not yet started grad school. Must be totally fascinated by parakeet social drama (there's a lot of it!)🪶🧪 Job ad here: ornithologyexchange.org/jobs/board/s...
If you’re a federal scientist who has been fired, and are willing to talk about your work and its importance, please email me at springj2@si.edu. Joe Spring, online science editor, Smithsonian magazine. (If you aren’t, can you repost this so more fired scientists can see it?)
I usually reserve this account for my personal views; but today I want to represent my position as President of @asn-amnat.bsky.social to post a message that will shortly go out to the membership of the American Society of Naturalists from the ASN Executive Council
Just got word that our Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) Grant was being canceled. All 100+ institutions. So even private funding is susceptible to this administration’s unraveling of DEI initiatives
Fully funded PhD position on Paternities and spatial kinship structure in a population of South African bush Karoo rats. Field work in South Africa. Analysis of existing long-term data at LEEC / Univ. Sorbonne Paris Nord. Please RT!
www-leec.univ-paris13.fr/documents/LE...
I love that this was all students. Long-live natural history!
A page from the zine, asking "So how can little auks communicate important messages in this crowd?" and showing two vocalising auks, or rather block prints.
#bioacoustics #scicomm #seabirds
My wonderful students/friends and myself are happy to share our sweet little zine summarising my PhD on the little auk's vocal communication :)
You can download the read & print versions here, and are more than welcome to share. Enjoy!
osf.io/h7msz/
The mood in LA is anxious/devastated/exhausted/ braced for more.
It's NOT all rich people. Most are artists who scraped together a down payment. And the fire has leveled Altadena, a historically Black tight-knit community.
List of GoFundMes that could use love:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
This was one of my favorite talks so far! I love the integration of modeling with creative experiments and I cannot stop telling people about bespoke quail snack machines...
Come on, now. Don't be silly.
I was at least six.
Oof - multiple typos in my alt-text (can you edit that after the fact?!) but it's unusual (not "usually" as I wrote) at our colony in the Gulf of Alaska. Usually just a couple 3-egg clutches per year (out of hundreds).
It's totally wild that these little adorable things pop into the world, look around their new world all soft and warm under doting parents... and choose murder.
We have an ethogram, but currently, multiple aggressive behaviors are lumped - we quantify intensity via rate or proportion of time spent. We do single out "neck-wringing" as a particularly intense & vicious-seeming behavior. Parsing out the behaviors that comprise aggression would be worthwhile!
RE why I study this: it's a horrid and fascinating phenomenon at the interface of physiology and behavioral ecology - what's not to like?!
A small black cube (a GoPro camera) is in the foreground on the right, mounted on a black tripod and with a red indicator light illuminated, inidcating the camera is recording. The camera is pointed towards a wooden wall, but most of the frame is occupied by a rectangular clear glass window. Through window, you can see a mass of brown vegetation - a kittiwake nest. It's on a ledge and far below you can see blurry green vegetation. In the nest sits a white gull with grey wings and back, a yellow bill, and some reddish/orange visible at the corner of its mouth (part of its gape). It's sitting over a fluffy white chick with some grey on it's body, a black beak, and a red mark on its head (indicating that it is the first-hatched chick in the brood).
Three fuzzy whitish/grey chicks occupy the bulk of nest made of brown straw and vegetation, with blurry green vegetation visible in the background far below, and a grey strip of ocean in the very back. The chick on the left has a read mark on it's head (first hatched, or "A chick") and seems to looking at the chick next to it, who has it's black beak open with a pink mouth/tongue visible (this is the "C chick", usually at this colony). The chick in front of the other two is facing forward and has its beak planted in the nest, eyes closed. It has a blue mark on its head (second-hatched or "B" chick). The adult is standing over the chicks, but only it's white feathered belly and banded legs are visible (left leg has a silver metal band, right leg has orange, dark green then while darvic (plastic) color bands).
I currently study physiology & behavior of siblicide in a Pacific pop. of black-legged kittiwakes (𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑎). I'm at a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution) & have amazing undergrads working on projects about the interactions of glucocorticoids, metabolism, behavior & sex. #seabirds
Hey #seabirders! Who's migrated to this platform and which #seabirds do you work on? Let us know! Pictures encouraged 😊
A flyer for ‘Training for First-Time Reviewers’ Hosted by Reviewer Zero. The bottom left says “So you want to participate in peer review: how to write inclusive and equitable reviews. Learn how to write your first review by learning the general principles and structure of writing an effective review” The date is December 4th, 11 AM PT, 1 PM CT, 2 PM Et. You can RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/YC5U6XWK The Black In Neuro logo is on the bottom right. The top right has a photo of a laptop keyboard with a small notepad and pen.
You won’t want to miss this amazing workshop for first-time reviewers on How to Write Inclusive and Equitable Reviews, with @reviewerzero.bsky.social on December 4th!
Register here: blackinneuro47.wildapricot.org/event-5883989
#AcademicSky #PhDSky #Blackademics 🧪
Looking for your next opportunity in conservation?
The SCB Career Center offers tailored job alerts to keep you ahead in science, policy, education, & more. Sign up now and never miss a role! 🌍➡️
careers.conbio.org
#Conservation #Jobs #CareerCenter #biodiversity #ecology
Interesting #seabirds movement ecology pre-print - no evidence for reduced energy expenditure (actually, it was higher) or increased fitness for black-legged kittiwakes at the center of the winter range in the North Atlantic.
www.authorea.com/users/609656...
I've been asked for the layperson's summary of this paper, so here it goes:
Because distinct groups of #seabirds across large regions like the North Atlantic grow and shrink together, conservationists in different countries also need to work together.
Wisdom's still alive, she's back at her breeding grounds! This season she'll turn at least 74 years old. 🎉🎊💃
