We just published a new piece on the blue-winged parrot! One of our least studied difficult birds. Some light Saturday reading with a cup of tea birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Oh look, yet *more* evidence that markets are highly unlikely to be the great saviours for nature conservation that the corporate cheerleaders suggest they are! I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya! biodiversitycouncil.org.au/news/could-e...

Back when we were doing crowdfunding for parrots my mate Jana helped by giving us donations and donor prizes - now she’s doing a crowd fund! Help her build SE London's coolest stationery store Check it out: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/extra-the-...

I have not seen environment at all in budget coverage - does it exist??

Each week, we release 4-12 newly updated accounts, from species all over the world. Many thanks to all the authors and media contributors who make this possible! If you're reading this and you're an author, click LIKE so we can follow you!

Another black-shouldered kite pic. Yesterday at Auburn, Clare Valley.

Very important article and read academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Want some fun weekend reading? here’s something we wrote!!

Orange-bellied Parrot is a small (~45 g) parrot endemic to southeastern Australia. Unusually for a parrot, this species is an obligate migrant, breeding in remote southwestern Tasmania and spending the nonbreeding season on the coast of the Australian mainland. birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Omg today our research group passed 100 research papers published on Australia’s most difficult birds! You can read them all free here: www.difficultbirds.com/research-out...

Well, I guess this is my first ever piece of breaking news - probably the biggest rare plant story in Australia this year. Over at @tasinquirer.bsky.social. tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/very-ex...

ANU's financial crisis overstated, job cuts unnecessary 👀 region.com.au/anus-125m-bu...

#kakapo Esperance with chick Elsie-A2-2026 on Whenua Hou. At a month old the chicks start to get coloured feathers and males will weigh around 1kg - not far off the mother's weight. But she's still less than halfway through raising them in the nest! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #wildlife

As Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social writes, the rapid unplanned disassembly of ANU has been disturbing. And, yes, occasionally even funny. www.crikey.com.au/2026/04/14/a...

what a cluster, in other words

🚨Exposed: A major Bunnings timber supplier has been linked to logging in critically endangered swift parrot habitat 🦜 #Bunnings claims it’s committed to Responsible Timber Sourcing, yet this revelation could mean what’s on the shelves is timber made of critical habitat for the #swiftparrot. #wildoz

@paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social @natcomms.nature.com

On the ground in Tanimbar! 🦜 Alongside our local team & the wildlife police, we’re surveying locally captured parrots kept as pets. Testing these birds for diseases is a vital part of our research programme, helping to safeguard both people and wild parrot populations. 🌿🇮🇩

Lots of things going on but here's another story published today www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It is great to be back in the Moluccas, Indonesia, this time conducting a research project on parrots, genetics, and the wildlife trade. I’m grateful for all my local collaborators and the funders (ARC and Fundación Loro Parque) to make this investigation a reality. @arc-gov-au.bsky.social

On Friday @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social published our literature review on orange-bellied parrots! Everything you wanted to know about these adorable bird; plus, some very cute videos I’ve accumulated over the years 😍 Free to read! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

In nice news, we recently published a literature review for swift parrots with @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social read all about everything you ever wanted to know about swift parrots for free 💚 birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

🚨NEW SCIENCE ALERT!🚨Read our new, open-access publication in Scientific Reports (@nature.com) describing #biofluorescence in #cassowary casques! Very excited to unveil this after keeping it secret for 5 years⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... NYITCOM @akiopteryx.bsky.social @jonathanberman.bsky.social

Superb parrots are simply gorgeous

This brood of blue-winged parrots are all tucked up in a hollow fence post - when the nest is right it doesn’t necessarily matter to them if it’s not in a tree 🤷‍♂️😍

The need to preserve animal culture in conservation efforts. 🪶 Gift link.

Watch this cool video about my mate George’s new research! It’s nice seeing in full something I’d heard about in snippets for a long time. Such cool work

Parrots, ancient DNA, and a long trek across the Andes! 🦜🧬🏔️ Check out the video summary for our latest @natcomms.nature.com paper by @wildlifemessengers.org. We discovered pre-Inca societies transported live Amazonian parrots from the rainforest to the Pacific coast: youtu.be/Vb5eoTaGLO0

Huge thanks to Prof. Izumi Shimada and my amazing co-authors for this incredible cross-disciplinary journey fusing #ecology, #genomics, and #archaeology. @paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @anufennerschool.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social

Isotopes showed the birds survived the trade and lived on the coast, eating a diet of maize (possibly fertilised by seabird guano). 🌽🌊 This proves pre-Inca regional states managed vast, complex trade networks centuries before the Inca Empire.

🧬 Using ancient DNA and stable isotopes from 600–1,000-year-old feathers found at Pachacamac, Peru, we found these birds were possibly wild-caught in the rainforest and carried over 500 km across 3,000-metre mountain passes. 🏔️ A great logistical feat in pre-Inca cultures!

🦜🏔️ How did vibrant Amazonian parrot feathers end up in a desert tomb on the Pacific coast of Peru 1,000 years ago? Our new paper on @natcomms.nature.com reveals they didn't just trade feathers, pre-Inca societies transported live macaws and parrots across the Andes!👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper out in ecology letters! with @andylee.bsky.social @allydefduf.bsky.social We synthesized the active debate on how scientists define sex, including limitations and assumptions. We believe this discussion will lead to more accurate science. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A breakdown of how these singing classes work, and how you graduate. @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social

Fenner School scientists from the Difficult Bird Research Group have rescued the lost song of the regent honeyeater, offering new hope for the survival of the critically endangered bird: bit.ly/4l2D5Cc @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social

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...

#science #birds #conservation

New research on orange-bellied parrots! We simulated the consequences of rising mortality rates on the tiny population- an emerging risk in their migration range We found even a few extra deaths/year negates 💰 conservation efforts zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New research on orange-bellied parrots! We simulated the consequences of rising mortality rates on the tiny population- an emerging risk in their migration range We found even a few extra deaths/year negates 💰 conservation efforts zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Five gnarly little blue winged parrots in a fence post

This is the most incredible footage of blue whales I’ve ever seen

A study I led came out in Nature Cities yesterday! We used radar to study the role that urban landscapes play in migratory bird stopover. Spoiler: birds use cities a lot, and the patterns of their use reflect social processes and the inequities embedded in them. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The Australia government’s decision to allow Alcoa to continue clearing WA forest was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year. A document also shows the environment dept had told Alcoa since 2011 its clearing required approval.

Today I met a puppy, had a FaceTime with Gigi and my violet opened- on balance a good day

Here is the spoken cartoon version of my tribute to Jon Kudelka www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cv9...

we said goodbye to jon @kudelka.bsky.social today. if you couldn’t be there or watch the livestream - it was a heartbreakingly beautiful celebration of a truly wonderful man. i loved hearing so many stories about him from so many people who loved him. how lucky we all were to know him ♥️

The funeral for Jon Kudelka was both beautiful and deeply sad - he loved our difficult birds and was a staunch protector of Tasmanian nature - he will be missed and is a tragically gone too soon 💙

The first #kakapo chick for four years hatched two days ago (on Valentine’s Day for those who like to anthropomorphise!). Here’s Tiwhiri-A1-2026 in Yasmine’s nest. 📸: Deidre Vercoe. www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r... #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots #birds

The utter sham of offsets, yet again... “Destroying the equivalent of 40 MCGs worth of greater glider habitat and then attempting to relocate all hollows and claim this somehow offsets the harm to greater gliders is genuinely deluded, and contemptuous.” - me www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Here is my cartoon about Mr Jon Kudelka www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...