Marie Hébert

New paper out on the decision strategies of bumblebees. When using visual cues to make flower choices, they switch strategy with sensory context, learning as much as necessary, but as little as possible. Based on their training time, we propose a mechanism for this switch. tinyurl.com/2r9d4jrs 🌸🐝🧠

A deceased Puffin lies on its back on the ground. Wording above reads: Please report sightings of all dead birds. A graphic showing an exclamation mark in a triangle features.

⚠️ We've had reports of seabirds washing up. Please report ALL species of dead birds ⬇️

📍 In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/...
📍 In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/...
📍 In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.serv...

#UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

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

Periodic reminder that moa de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss due to conservation deprioritisation of extant species. The (re)introduction process of any resultant genetically-modified Emus will very expensive www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Ornithology

A collection of six ominous bird valentines set against a background of pink hearts. In the first one, a Canada Goose looks angry and hisses and the text says "Baby, I'll make you fall head over heels if you approach within 10m of my nest." In the second, an American white pelican opens its mouth to eat the reader and the text says "There are plenty of fish in the sea, but I want this one." In the third valentine, a Black Vulture looks suspiciously at the reader and the text says "I will love you until you die. And after that, I'll love you even more." A Southern Cassowary stands proudly against the heart-covered background. The text says "My wattles are red. My head is blue. My deadly reputation has been somewhat overblown, but I'd kill for you." In the fifth valentine, a Northern Giant-Petrel stands open-billed next to a large brown furry object, and the text says "Let's seal the deal by sharing a 3000 kg elephant seal carcass." In panel 6, a happy-looking Bearded Vulture holds a bone in its beak, and the text says "I love every part of you, especially your bones."

Ominous bird valentines.

A European storm petrel nesting among rocks in Mousa, Shetland.

The RSPB is looking for surveyors to census the UK’s largest Storm Petrel colony on Mousa, Shetland.

We need 2-4 volunteers who are comfortable working and camping in a remote location with limited facilities, to help complete playback surveys during mid-July 2026. 🪺🏝️🏕️

A diagram of the evolution of whales, from land dwelling mammals to the ocean giants we know today.

Whale evolution makes me uncomfortable

Image of a deceased Puffin lying on the ground. White wording on an orange background reads: Please report sightings of dead birds.

⚠️ Please report sightings of dead birds for possible testing for Avian Influenza. ⬇️

📌 In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/...
📌 In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/...
📌 In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.serv...

#UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

🚨🚨👇👇👇👇 🚨🚨

What the family drama of interbreeding polar and grizzly bears reveals A hybrid grolar bear saga is unfolding in the Arctic, and the tale of this strange family has much to tell us about nature on our changing planet

A hybrid grolar bear saga is unfolding in the Arctic, and the tale of this strange family has much to tell us about nature on our changing planet

You are ABSOLUTELY NOT going to regret listening to this bird:

Horrible idea. AI will regress all grants towards the mean since AI is trained to produce the average output.

Grants require expertise that ignores bad literature and rejects author assertions if false. no AI review I've seen has ever challenged the author's assertions as fundamentally flawed.

🚨Job Alert plz RT!

Johns Hopkins Psych & Brain Sciences is looking for a new colleague using behavioral or computational approaches to study cognition!

We are excited about many areas of (esp higher) cognition in human adults, children, or nonhuman animals

Open-rank

apply.interfolio.com/178146

If you are interested in animal cognition and birds, a reminder to apply for this PhD opportunity in our lab! Applications close December 10th

3D printed Song Sparrow finished!

Just a few days left!

Interested in avian behaviour—especially reproductive and social behaviour— and looking for a Research Assistant position? We’d love to hear from you!

🐦🪶🪺🐥

More info and apply here: tinyurl.com/577cx9tj

The surprising crab-trap–pulling behavior is described in this article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

We recently published a paper on how animal tool use is conceptualized, offering a framework to make sense of its different forms 👇📃 www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #evosky #philsci

Vienna dog owners! Clever Dog Lab researchers and I have new study for your pups to participate in😊

Only need one visit to the lab to play with their favorite toy😍
Email to participate today! Rita.goetz@vetmeduni.ac.at
@asommese.bsky.social

PLEASE SHARE

🚨🚨 6-month RA position available at the Univ. of St Andrews to work with Sue Healy (@cogwild.bsky.social), Simone Meddle (@simonemeddle.bsky.social) and I on the behavioural neuroendocrinology of early reproduction in zebra finches.

tinyurl.com/577cx9tj

Deadline: 03/12/2025
⬇️

🚨 Uh-oh!!! A suuuper hot #PhD opportunity just dropped! My friend and collaborator Massimo De Agrò is looking for someone to explore jumping spider vision and neurophysiology! #psychophysics #jumpingspiders #greatPI - apply!!!! (Deadline December 17th) 🚨

Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis From two avian neurobiologists, a captivating deep dive into the mechanisms that control avian behavior.The last few decades have produced extensive resear

A reminder to anyone interested in #brains #birds or behaviour, our new book is available for FREE as an ebook in addition to print copies.
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶

direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

Hello! My name is Gabriella and in April '26 l will graduate with my PhD in compcog from VetMedUni Vienna🤩👩🏻‍🎓🦜🐒🐕🇦🇹

With this in mind, I am excited to soon extend my passion for animal behavior/cognition in a post-doc/job position, so any recs/ connections would be greatly appreciated!!
Website below☺️

The primary duty will be to video score reproductive and social behaviours of paired zebra finches, to ultimately combine these data with large physiology datasets as part of our BBSRC funded grant: gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref...

St Andrews based position, not eligible for visa sponsorship.

PLEASE SHARE

🚨🚨 6-month RA position available at the Univ. of St Andrews to work with Sue Healy (@cogwild.bsky.social), Simone Meddle (@simonemeddle.bsky.social) and I on the behavioural neuroendocrinology of early reproduction in zebra finches.

tinyurl.com/577cx9tj

Deadline: 03/12/2025
⬇️

Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template “mummification” Two “mummies” of the end-Cretaceous, duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus annectens preserve a fleshy crest over the neck and trunk, an interdigitating spike row over the hips and tail, and hooves cappi...

Really cool! Edmontosaurus had hooves!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My first official post to say see you at #SfN2025! I'm presenting some new ephys work with @healeylab.bsky.social looking at auditory responses to chick calls in zebra finch parents! 🐦🧠🔊🐣 Tuesday @ 2pm (PSTR346, Vocal/Social Communication). ALSO ~ my lab is opening soon and we're HIRING!! (see ⬇️)

From preferences to pollination: do hummingbirds and bees differ in how they choose flowers?

#PhD position!

Comparing #foraging and #cognition in #hummingbirds and #bumblebees

Fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies, lab experiments at @newcastleuni.bsky.social, and ecological modelling at @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

Details (including my email) here: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

‘You can’t eat electricity’: how rural solar farms became the latest battlefront in Britain’s culture war Reform UK is exploiting opposition to solar panels – but most farmers are more worried about climate change.

92%: the percentage of funding for Nigel Farage's far-right political party Reform UK that comes from fossil fuel interests.

Across the world, anyone blaming immigrants, etc, it's all just a smokescreen to allow the rich to keep on getting richer by killing our planet.
share.google/W2gwfc0XVpUy...

A wide range of abiotic and biotic variables leaves most variation in bird nest architecture unexplained | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Nests are the locations or containers for offspring, and mediate interactions between offspring and the environment. However, understanding how environmental factors shape the evolution of nest archit...

New paper today in Proc B @royalsociety.org. We explored nest architecture in 3,685 species of birds, modelling the multivariate nature of nests, i.e. how shape, location or attachment co-occur. Then we explored how the environment affected nest architecture evolution. Spoilers in the title! 🪺🐦🌍

From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.

Funders must recognise that great discoveries often come from studies that seeks to advance knowledge for its own sake

go.nature.com/47zrzYZ