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Mandy Ridley

@mandyridley

Behavioural Ecologist with a special focus on cooperation, cognition, vocal communication, and behavioural responses to climate change Webpage: www.babbler-research.com

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11.02.2025
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Latest posts by Mandy Ridley @mandyridley

Our review of the impact of multiple anthropogenic stressors on avian behaviour and cognition was the most downloaded paper in the Journal of Avian Biology 2025! @camillasoravia.bsky.social @gblackburn.bsky.social

18.02.2026 08:13 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Oh wow, how cool!

18.02.2026 08:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Many thanks to @gblackburn.bsky.social for taking this on so that it could come to fruition!

16.12.2025 10:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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An Experimental Test of Central Place Foraging Theory in a Cooperatively Breeding Bird This study experimentally investigated central place foraging theory in a cooperatively breeding bird, the Southern Pied Babbler. We found that while birds were more likely to provision when given fo...

So happy to see this come to print after life took over & there was a delay btw data collection and writing up! We conduct an experimental test of central place foraging theory & ask how provisioning/distance trade-offs might differ in a cooperative breeder.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

16.12.2025 10:52 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

An important ontogenetic perspective into the relationship between cognition and social interactions! Congrats @lizziespeechley.bsky.social!
With collaborators @stephanielking.bsky.social @ceb-uwa.bsky.social Ben Ashton, Alex Thornton and Leigh Simmons

14.11.2025 11:37 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New paper alert! By tracking fledglings through development we found evidence that cognitive development is related to social interactions: this extends our research on adult magpie cognition. See below for an overview of all papers from @lizziespeechley.bsky.social’s excellent research thesis πŸ‘‡πŸ»πŸ‘‡πŸ»

14.11.2025 11:32 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New amazing open Postdoc position, w/t opportunities to 1) get closely involved in our next @themanybirds.bsky.social study on innovation and problem-solving; 2) work with @ecobird.bsky.social on avian innovation, cognition & invasiveness. Advert: www.ugent.be/en/work/scie...

14.11.2025 06:20 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New paper out in PLoS Biology! A large international collaboration from the ManyBirds project, looking at variation in neophobia across a wide range of avian species globally. Delighted that the magpies were part of this large and diverse dataset!

15.10.2025 15:19 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Investigating the relationship between heat-mediated cognitive impairment and antipredator response in a wild bird | Royal Society Open Science Increasingly frequent heatwaves require animals to spend more time thermoregulating at the expense of other fitness-related behaviours. Emerging evidence also indicates that high temperatures can impa...

Our new paper is out! @camillasoravia.bsky.social leads this research, which looks into the relationship between heat- mediated cognitive impairment and the antipredator response in wild pied babblers. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

08.10.2025 09:56 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats to @avantikadeep.bsky.social on presenting her research plans for studying the causes and consequences of intrasexual selection in magpies at #AES2025!

01.10.2025 01:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Avantika Sharma showcasing her plans for her PhD on intrasexual selection in magpies at #AES2025. Great work Avantika! @mandyridley.bsky.social @ceb-uwa.bsky.social

01.10.2025 01:32 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

#AES2025 started with a blast with @brainiants.bsky.social talking about the effect of inbreeding on survivorship and fecundity in European royal families!

Keep them coming @pebblemouse.bsky.social

01.10.2025 00:36 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats to Kim @brainiants.bsky.social on her talk at #AES2025! Kim’s research into inbreeding in European royals looked at the effect on reproductive success, offspring survival and fertility. Manuscript to be submitted soon: watch this space!

01.10.2025 01:20 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Excellent stuff, congrats!

26.09.2025 10:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

@dutourmylene.bsky.social β€˜s talk was wonderful, so great to see her back in Perth again!

24.09.2025 09:34 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Congrats to @avantikadeep.bsky.social for presenting her PhD research plans on intrasexual competition in group-living magpies!

24.09.2025 09:26 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats to Lakshani for presenting her research plan on coalitions in toque macaques for her PhD!

24.09.2025 09:24 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats to @stephaniellaura.bsky.social for winning an award for her excellent poster on her PhD research!

24.09.2025 09:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Super proud of PhD student @stephaniellaura.bsky.social at her exit seminar: she took us through a comprehensive journey of investigation and unveiled some truly fascinating results, only achievable through her exceptional hard work and attention to detail. Congrats Steph!

22.09.2025 02:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats @stephaniellaura.bsky.social for doing amazing PhD research on the ontogeny of magpie communication!

08.09.2025 12:46 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our new cognition paper is out, headed by @gblackburn.bsky.social, and one of the last chapters from her exceptional PhD thesis!

21.08.2025 09:53 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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EARLY VIEW in IBIS

Western Australian Magpies alter the rate, but not the amplitude, of their territorial song in anthropogenic noise | onlinelibrary.wiley....

Grace Blackburn, Mylene Dutour, Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Amanda R. Ridley | #ornithology πŸͺΆ

10.06.2025 09:30 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Western Australian Magpies alter the rate, but not the amplitude, of their territorial song in anthropogenic noise Anthropogenic noise is considered one of the most serious forms of pollution globally and has been shown to have negative effects on the distribution, behaviour, cognition and reproductive success of...

Our new paper, led by @gblackburn.bsky.social, finds a very sharp decline in the rate of carol calls (the main territorial call) given by magpies during anthropogenic noise, but no change in the amplitude. @dutourmylene.bsky.social

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

09.06.2025 01:43 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our new paper, led by Masters student Holly, finds that magpies are capable of quantity discrimination, and this ability is affected by group size.

27.05.2025 00:45 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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@brainiants.bsky.social discussed her PhD proposal this afternoon where she plans to study variation in intraspecific cognition & its relation to complex behaviors, specifically combat and group foraging in Western Australian ants. 🐜 @mandyridley.bsky.social @notthebestsam.bsky.social #LeighSimmons

21.05.2025 07:08 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
WA Government Jobs | Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist (Fire Science)

Job opportunity for #Fire #scientists in Western Australia closing soon - 25 April!

Permanent fire-science research position Research Scientist /Senior Research Scientist (Fire Science) position.
search.jobs.wa.gov.au/page.php?pag...

22.04.2025 09:43 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Nicholas Wu on X: "🚨 Lecturer in Animal Behaviour position @waikato. Fantastic opportunity for someone passionate about teaching & research in animal behaviour, preferably on birds, amphibians, reptiles or bats. πŸ“ Hamilton, NZ Closes: 4th May 2025 πŸ”— https://t.co/UpGAwVwZD7 https://t.co/ufyr9C6rgo" / X 🚨 Lecturer in Animal Behaviour position @waikato. Fantastic opportunity for someone passionate about teaching & research in animal behaviour, preferably on birds, amphibians, reptiles or bats. πŸ“ Hamilton, NZ Closes: 4th May 2025 πŸ”— https://t.co/UpGAwVwZD7 https://t.co/ufyr9C6rgo

x.com/nicholaswunz...

06.04.2025 03:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Climate-induced divergence of song - Nature Climate Change Vocal communication is essential for information transmission in many species, such as that related to mating opportunities or predator presence. Recent research revealing how phenotypic changes broug...

@gblackburn.bsky.social & I recently wrote this piece in Nature Climate Change about the potential conservation implications of climate-induced divergence of song. This may occur more often under a rapidly changing climate & cause greater isolation between popns.

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

28.02.2025 05:05 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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21.02.2025 05:32 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Gorgeous night skies to accompany us last night on a woylie capture-tag-release trip. Wonderful to see so many woylies hopping out in the predator-proofed reserve so close to Perth!

21.02.2025 05:32 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0