PhD position available to study the migration ecology and year-round demography of blackpoll warblers.

Why do only some Savannah sparrows raise 2 broods in a single season?🪶 Research by Dr. Hayley Spina @integrativebiology.bsky.social shows that levels of a hormone linked to energy use during demanding times may reveal which females are more likely to double-brood 🗞️ www.uoguelph.ca/cbs/news/202...

You know, there is this thing in science where evidence accumulates to such a degree that it becomes accepted as fact. Way to go Ross McKitrick from @uofguelph.bsky.social. Proud to have you on board. www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...

Our lab had a fantastic time at the Soc. Cnd. Ornithologists meeting in Saskatoon last week! Thanks to @sco-soc-2025.bsky.social and the organizers. And congrats to Jelany Duali for winning best student talk! #ornithology #CanadaBirds @passarahformes.bsky.social @jonathanjojochu.bsky.social

Today at the Society of Canadian Ornithologists meeting in Saskatoon: - Jelany Duali and Sarah Mueller, our Guelph collaborators, will present research on sparrow behaviour - I will join the Motus roundtable to discuss progress with Motus Audio @sco-soc-2025.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

Our new paper published today in Current Biology shows that immediate international cooperation is needed to conserve the eastern North American monarch butterfly. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Ha! Love this, Tess!!! Tell us the final poll numbers please….and also when the paper is out.

We've just won two grants! Both are under embargo, but some exciting plans will now come to fruition for bioacoustic studies of wild birds and whales in Canada and beyond. With my awesome collaborators @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social and S. Doucet.

It's a wrap for our 2025 Savannah Sparrow bioacoustic field studies. Thanks to our sparrow collaborators and the Bowdoin Scientific Station for a great field season in the Bay of Fundy. @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social

Portraits of Savannah Sparrows on Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

How loud is a sparrow? Our new project involves measuring the amplitude of Savannah Sparrow songs. This is a team investigation with @jaclynaubin.bsky.social, @sdobney.bsky.social, @nelsyninor.bsky.social, M. Bygrove, N. Emerick, and our sparrow collaborators, with funding from NSERC.

Farewell Kent Island! With an A+ Savannah Sparrow team I helped record songs of 34 males, find 36 nests, and colour band 29 adults & 18 nestlings! More to come as the season finishes. Sad to leave, but thankful to be part of this [email protected] @ryannorrissci.bsky.social #ornithology

I see the @dmennill.bsky.social hammer and the post-hammer but where is the pre-hammer? Maybe @liamtaylor.bsky.social knows??

Today I launched my final Song Meter recordings of the 2025 Kent Island field season. I’m loath to admit that our field expedition is nearing its end.

Herring Gulls are now hatching on Kent Island. This makes our Savannah Sparrow research more treacherous; giant gulls dive-bomb us when we step anywhere near their offspring. #GullOfTheDay #TerrorizedSavannahSparrowResearchers @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @liamtaylor.bsky.social

I wonder if something has been beating up on the Kent Island gulls? This one looks like it had a rough night. Now that he’s here, maybe @liamtaylor.bsky.social knows? #GullOfTheDay

This Gull was hanging out at the singles area on Kent Island. I'm flummoxed on this one. Maybe @liamtaylor.bsky.social can offer some advice! #GullOfTheDay

A special #GullOfTheDay in honour of @liamtaylor.bsky.social's arrival at Bowdoin Scientific Station for the 2025 field season. @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

Biologists in the fog. Bowdoin Scientific Station, Kent Island, New Brunswick. #PreyForFog @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social

Nesting is progressing nicely on Kent Island. We already have one Savannah Sparrow nest with nestlings! These tiny babies will be ready to leave the nest in just 7 more days! @dmennill.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

Just out: our article on how a few threatened and endangered species in Ontario will be impacted by Bill 5: ontarionature.org/the-impact-o... @qwebber.bsky.social

Here is an Op-Ed @qwebber.bsky.social and I wrote on the absurd Bill 5 being proposed by the Ontario government. It is amazing we have to say these things but word needs to get out for those in Ontario....and for those in the rest of Canada and the U.S: keep watch! thepointer.com/article/2025...

In the fog on Kent Island at Bowdoin Scientific Station, Savannah Sparrow banding is underway. Great research Sarah, Nelsy, Madison, Natalie, and Jaclyn! @sdobney.bsky.social @nelsyninor.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

I spied my chapbook in the wild: "Savannah Sparrow" is for sale at @riverbookshop.bsky.social in Amherstburg. 📕🎶🐦 I wrote this chapbook as a fundraiser for Pelee Island Bird Observatory. Published by Woodbridge Farm Books. Join me Wed May 7 at 6:30pm at Ojibway Nature Centre to learn about sparrows.

With the help of @jonathanjojochu.bsky.social, we’ve done a major website update. Check out all our new and exciting stuff! NorrisLab.ca

The sun rises on our 2025 Savannah Sparrow field season. Sarah, Nelsy, Jaclyn, Madison, & Natalie have arrived on Kent Island to start our collaborative field studies. Stay tuned for updates from the Bay of Fundy. @nelsyninor.bsky.social @sdobney.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social 📷: N. Emerick

New PhD position available on blackpoll warblers with fieldwork in the boreal forest and tropics. @audubon.org @birdscanada.bsky.social @vtecostudies.bsky.social

Norris Lab: Wolf Field Research Assistant in Northern Ontario

Ruffed grouse blowin’ some hot air at a female. #AlgonquinPark

We explored the Quality Hypothesis, which proposes that high quality females have sufficient energetic resources available to rear two broods a season. [3/7]

Double-brooding can substantially increase the number of offspring produced per season in songbirds. However, not all females in multi-brooded populations rear two broods per season. We were interested in exploring this variation in a population of wild Savannah sparrows. [2/7]

My first PhD thesis paper is out now in Hormones and Behavior "Corticosterone predicts double-brooding in female savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis)". Open access here: doi.org/10.1016/j.yh... [1/7]

Maybe @liamtaylor.bsky.social knows?

Hard to ID this bird with its head in a hole. Anyone got any ideas? I waited forever and it never came out. Maybe it thought it was hiding.

We are far from conserving migratory butterflies. Our new paper shows that current protected areas are inadequate for 👉84% of migratory butterfly species in at least one season 👉45% of species in all seasons. (1/7) doi.org/10.1111/cobi...

My first first-author paper is out now as an accepted manuscript in Behavioral Ecology! "Reduced fitness of secondary females in a polygynous species: a 32-year study of Savannah sparrows" doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Now that it’s really hard to stomach posting anything on twitter, maybe I should get a little more professional on this platform (rather than just posting gull pictures for @liamtaylor.bsky.social). It’s either that or turn my mostly family related Facebook account into something else. 🤷‍♂️🤪

This is a #Gull(Poster)OfTheDay. The sole author of this poster is wondering if these data might be critical for @liamtaylor.bsky.social and maybe they could collaborate in the future. The poster will stay up on KI for reference. @dmennill.bsky.social

Wait! You thought we were done #GullOfTheDay? Not a chance. This juvenile gull is our #GullOfTheDay. It’s eating another dead juvenile. Please consult @liamtaylor.bsky.social for more answers to this unusual behaviour. @dmennill.bsky.social

Typically one finds the #GullOfTheDay in open habitat. Today is not a typical day. @liamtaylor.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

Good #GullOfTheDay! Very creative. You don’t see many of those gulls around these days.

Hey Ryan: You're looking the wrong way! The #GullOfTheDay is off to your left. @liamtaylor.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

This #GullOfTheDay has been looking at its feet for 23 minutes today. What do you think it’s doing? Tell us your guess and make sure to include our gull expert and founder of #GullOfTheDay @liamtaylor.bsky.social

Today's #GullOfTheDay really stands out from the rest of the flock... but can you tell which one it is? @liamtaylor.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social

There is lots of extra incentive to follow #GullOfTheDay. Here, for example, Gull headquarters would like you all to find the Gull in this picture! Who is up for the challenge?

Yet another way to highlight #GullOfTheDay, brought to you by the NY Times. @liamtaylor.bsky.social @dmennill.bsky.social

Me, when there's a new #GullOfTheDay post:

#GullOfTheDay Many gulls like to hang out in the grass but this gull prefers the path. The real mystery is “why” but don’t worry, we’re on it! I’ll provide updates here. @liamtaylor.bsky.social @dmennill.bsky.social

Something's coming... #GullOfTheDay @liamtaylor.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social