Stoked about the new Replication Studies section in Behavioral Ecology? Me too!
Jeremy Fox over at Dynamic Ecology interviewed me about our recent commentary on this topic and I'd love to hear the community's thoughts!
dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/t...
Interesting talk by @jellybb.bsky.social about the aberrant egg coloration in Ruff clutches. Blue eggs may affect nest survival, but fitness effects may be habitat dependent. @waderstudy.bsky.social IWSG Conference 2025 in Groningen (Netherlands) #IWSG2025 #waders #shorebirds
5/5 In addition, a huge effort is made to protect the #critically #endangered southern #dunlin. With expertise of Vroni Rohr-Bender and others, 26 chicks got an advantage be growing up in our aviary, before they got released back in the meadows, hopefully successfully #boosting the #population.
1/5 - What.an.increadible.fieldseason! Together with @koivulakari.bsky.social , @jelenasubotic.bsky.social , @chorlnev.bsky.social , @vmpakanen.bsky.social, Kristzi Kupan, Vroni Rohr-Bender and others we managed to find plenty of ruff nests (65!) and headstarted a bunch of Southern Dunlins (26!).
Female ruff in hand after ringing. Metal ring and orange colour ring with code VA
And today her four chicks hatched. From now on she is Valkyria.
Time is up for my brief fieldwork stint at #Liminganlahti. I have to leave right at the hatching peak of the #ruffs but the work is left in the capable hands of a wonderful team.
Southern dunlin, endangered living dinosaur. #theropods, #ornithology, #waders
Blonde ruff female standing in grasses by its nest.
Ruff clutch of four eggs, three eggs abnormally pale.
Yesterday, we found the nest of this blonde female. Three of her eggs were also exceptionally pale. #ornithology #waders
Ruff male with brownish ornaments co-display with pale-ruffed satellite morph. Female stands by them.
Ruff lekking: The co-display of a pale satellite and a court-defending independent morph increases male attractiveness. Lekking began here (65°N) in the first week of May and continues, even though most females are already incubating and the first chicks are expected to hatch any day now.
Yep. We use it for checking the existing rings and to avoid unecessary captures.
This year we spent long (and cold) nights out to capture #ruffs during peak #lekking. Each one ringed and fitted with a transmitter to help us track their movements and behavior.
Thanks to the team for the effort and stamina it takes to pull this off 💤
@koivulakari.bsky.social @chorlnev.bsky.social
A female Ruff enters her nest — a tent-like shelter hiding her precious eggs. She’s unringed for now, but she’ll receive her bands once the chicks hatch. #waders #ornithology
Standing ruff male. Seems like he was sleepy.
True, taking his afternoon nap.
Male ruff at his lek in standing position showing ornamental ruff an ear tufts.
Opera buffa? No, actually ruff male is dead serious in attracting females flying by to land at his lek. #waders #ornithology
Three boreal owl chicks on the ground. Picked from nest box for ringing.
Climate change in action: Went to check whether the chicks have hatched and found these. Almost ready to fledge. Three or four weeks too early.
Peekaboo! First boreal owl nest for this spring. #helmipöllö #ornithology
In the LATEST ISSUE of IBIS
Disappearing aapa mires and why we should care: unnoticed climate change exacerbates drainage effects on birds | onlinelibrary.wiley....
Anthony D. Fox, Aleksi Lehikoinen | #ornithology 🪶
It's not real.
It's not us.
It's not bad.
It's too hard to fix.
It's too late.
Just about every climate denial argument I've ever heard is a variant of one of these five categories, and each one is as bad as the next.
Why? Because they all have the same goal: prevent action as long as possible.
To hide their eggs and themselves, females need grassy vegetation away from forest edges with high nest predator activity.
Lekking ruffs in open shore meadow. Bothian Bay Finland
Male ruffs seek attention and prioritize areas of the meadow with slightly elevated spots and broad visibility.
In large meadows, female ruffs prefer to place their nests close to male leks, even though these are not necessarily the safest locations available #ornithology (Hanna Algora, @chorlnev.bsky.social, @jellybb.bsky.social @vmpakanen.bsky.social et al: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
How do female ruffs choose their nest location? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @koivulakari.bsky.social #ornithology
Increased wind flood frequency leads to decreased nest success of endangered waders in managed shore meadows | www.sciencedirect.co... | Biological Conservation | #ornithology 🪶
Cattle and birds on shore meadow at Liminganlahti, Finland
A large part of these meadows is under intensive management. We recommend that managers preferably choose areas with the potential to create attractive short-growth habitats in elevated meadow sections that are safe from flooding. Narrow, elongated areas along shorelines should be avoided.
making earth pile before the flood
dunlin incubating on the top of the pile
Our study species are critically endangered. That is why we sometimes made desperate attempts to lift dunlin nests onto the tops of earth piles or move ruff eggs to artificial incubators until the water receded. Some nests were saved by these measures, while others were not.
Graph showing that sea level +40 or more causes marked flood losses in dunlins and ruffs
Due to the low-lying nature of the habitats, a rise of 40 cm above the mean sea level was the critical threshold after which flood losses increased steeply. This do not require stormy winds. Instead, moderate or strong wind against the shore, combined with low air pressure can cause such a rise.
Bar charts showing frequencies of nest losses due predation and flooding
Frequency of wind floods has increased over the last few decades. Probably due to habitat degradation, dunlins also breed closer to the shoreline than before. Consequently, flood losses have increased and are now almost at same level as losses due to nest predation.
Our study with @chorlnev.bsky.social, @vmpakanen.bsky.social, @jellybb.bsky.social, and others, using long-term data on dunlins and ruffs, shows that wind floods are a serious threat to the reproduction of waders in the Baltic Sea shore meadows. #ornithology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A wonderful team effort to characterize the actions of HSD17B2, a gene that helps some #ruff males to dial down their testosterone levels, got published @science.org (1/n)
Ruff female ringed by James
Scoping, bird tower
Carrying equipment in large meadow
Bird in hand
Memories along the PhD journey
