Cornish Jackdaw Project

Screenshot of the EGI seminars You-tube Channel

We've uploaded recordings of many of our seminars over the last few months to our You-tube channel, including from @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social, Kristen Ruegg, Daniel Field, @jon-slate.bsky.social, Paul Acker, @thelabandfield.bsky.social & @kokkonut.bsky.social - Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/@EGIOxford

Great to get in another field visit to Mweya, likely the last of my PhD – a lot of desk-based work, but where better to do it! Excited to be heading onwards to Botswana in a couple of weeks to investigate mongoose-warthog interactions in another population.

Socially learnt predator recognition in nestling jackdaws Abstract. Recognizing whether other species pose a threat is critical to survival. Learning from others avoids the need for dangerous encounters, so it can

Jackdaws on the Biology Letters cover! Our new paper, led by brilliant MbyRes student Hannah Broad, shows that nestlings listen to adults’ responses to learn about novel predators. Pic: Céline Giorgetti. tinyurl.com/mwd8n2jh @guillmcivor.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org

This will be the first conference where we'll have a presence! We're very keen to learn what the evolutionary ecology community would like to see from an organisation representing it so please come along to our discussion session to tell us.

Researchers from the University of Exeter have found that moths move 85% less on average under street lighting conditions than in natural nighttime conditions.

Wildflower and tree planting and habitat maintenance
🌿🪲🌱🌳🌺
These weekly events will take place on Wednesday afternoons this term and are open to everyone. Event details and updates will be shared via email. Please email M.Williams15@exeter.ac.uk to be added to the mailing list.

#biodiversity

Social and ecological factors associated with innovation in urban sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) Cities are challenging places for wildlife, but some species, like sulfur-crested cockatoos, adapt by finding new ways to feed and solve problems. We studi

New paper alert! 🦜

We gave wild cockatoos puzzle boxes across Canberra’s urban gradient. The finding? Urban birds approach faster, but are not better solvers.

Our results suggest that urbanization shapes neophobia independently from cognitive performance. Read it here:

doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Schematic of experimental design in new study.

Dwarf mongoose acting as a sentinel in Limpopo Province, South Africa

📢NEW paper alert

📖How #aggression between groupmates can have lasting consequences both for #cooperative #behaviour & responses to #intergroup threats:

doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

👑Led by @josharbon.bsky.social

#fieldwork #experiments #mongooses #mammals #bioacoustics
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social

🚨JOB alert🚨

We have three (yes, THREE) 🌟lectureships🌟 advertised in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol.

Broad remit, including #AnimalBehaviour & #GlobalChangeBiology

⏱️Deadline: 8th March 2026
🙏Please circulate widely

😊Come join us!

Full #job details: tinyurl.com/y3us95rc

Welcome ExE 2026 is a 3-day conference aimed at evolutionary ecologists from around the world, hosted by the University of Exeter in beautiful Cornwall. It provides a friendly and inclusive platform for all c...

For UK folks in #Ecology and #Evolution, we are hosting a conference here in Cornwall! Great chance for a summer staycation June 29-July 3.

Plus, we've managed to make it affordable: £250 + £49/night for accommodation.

#EvolBiol #EcoEvo

sites.exeter.ac.uk/exe/

Hiring for 3 positions: Research Assistant, Field Research Coordinator, and Postdoc I am looking to hire 3 people into my lab this year. I am still doing the paperwork to get the jobs officially posted but I want to send the word out and screen potential applications right away. R…

I am hiring a research assistant (vampire bats), a Panama fieldwork coordinator (vampire bats), and also considering postdoc apps (social behavior, any species): socialbat.org/2026/02/19/h...

NEW RESEARCH 🚨

Researchers identify ultrasonography as reliable method of determining sex in migrating silver eels. This technique was shown to be more reliable than molecular marking, and removes the need for sacrifice.
@mjw-marine.bsky.social

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

🦑🧪🌍🦤🌐

Today's photo was taken at the wonderful St. Tudno's on the #GreatOrme Just as I was standing there, thinking that this photo needed 'something extra', along came Mr. Jackdaw. Don't you just love it when nature cooperates! #photooftheday #NOIR #Gothic #birdphotography

Handwritten note saying: "But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything."

Let's celebrate #DarwinDay by reminding ourselves that everyone has moments when they feel worse for wear.

Darwin wrote to Charles Lyell in 1861:
"But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything."

www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-L...

So, hang in there, #academicsky!
🧪🌏🐵

Lectureships available with priorities in evolutionary biology, behavioural and sensory ecology, ecology and plants!

Congratulations Ondrej! That is fantastic.

New (competition funded) PhD opportunity with me,
@iaciac.bsky.social and @dralgernon.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Higher-order networks and animal communication. Suited to someone keen on network science theory/computational modeling and keen to adapt this to ecology & evolution.

A new paper published in Nature introduces the Ocean Equity Index (OEI), the first global tool to measure fairness in ocean policies and projects.
It was developed by 27 leading experts in marine conservation, social justice and ocean governance.

🌊 news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

Job alert! The University of Zurich is hiring a professor for Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology. Learn more here: www.appointments.mnf.uzh.ch/auth/Apply/0...

Huge thanks to @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social and @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding! #animalwelfare #wildlife #animalbehaviour #conservation

New paper out in @animalecology.bsky.social: Social information about others' affective states in a human-altered world. Link: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
With @jackdawjordan.bsky.social, @margauxvanhussel.bsky.social, Mike Mendl, and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social

A u shaped structure made out of sticks called a bower, built under a small tree. In front of the bower is a pile of grey, white and green objects that make up the display court. The whole scene is in dappled sunlight and shade created by the tree above.

New bowerbird paper out, we asked whether male great bowerbirds care about the light environment around the bower where they display to females. Short answer: not really. What they do care about is having a display arena with strong visual contrast on the ground. 🐦 tinyurl.com/2v7rycdz

Got Beef With Cowbirds? This Researcher Wants to Change Your Mind The nest parasites get a bad rap for making other birds raise their young, but study by study, Mark Hauber and his “Cowbird Lab” have revealed a species worthy of respect.

Update on some of our decades long cowbird research in @audubon.org magazine: www.audubon.org/magazine/got...

Internships are now available with the Cornish Jackdaw Project! 🐦‍⬛

Duties will include assisting with nest monitoring, bird ringing, data entry, and the potential to help with ongoing research projects.

An all black bird perched on a post is enjoying a scratch under its open bill.

Jackdaw having a scratch.
#birdoftheday
#FeathersandForm

Check out these excellent PhD opportunities, with fabulous supervisors!

Predator defence in anemonefishes

Applications closing 5th Jan for Fully funded PhD through @iapetusdtp.bsky.social

Studying behaviour and ecology of anemonefishes. Need to be happy to spend lots of time in Papua New Guinea and need to be SCUBA qualified.

iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

To survive and flourish, many animal species rely on ecological knowledge. But this knowledge is not always spread across the group—it's often held by certain "keystone individuals."

Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @pbrakes.bsky.social!

Listen: disi.org/the-value-of...

Behavioural ecology in the twenty-first century - Nature Ecology & Evolution This Perspective discusses how the field of behavioural ecology has contributed to fundamental science and tackling global challenges, ranging from understanding how natural selection leads to adaptat...

In one of those days where purpose seems hard to find, nice to read: "why does the world still need behavioural ecologists?"

A reminder of how exciting it is to see the world from the eyes of a behavioural ecologist.

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