Elephants gesture to signal what they want—just like us. Learn more: scim.ag/3IyDRrq

Hi everyone, happy to share with all of you the paper from the second chapter of my PhD, where we show that more exploratory birds use a broader foraging niche, linking consistent behavior with ecological flexibility. I hope you can enjoy it and share it!!! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We're hiring📢📢📢 To complement our team we're currently looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in animal communication and behaviour, ideally canids but not a must! Position is based in Vienna, Austria, and available for 4 years. Please check the attachment for details 🐺🐶😊

Lovebirds have begun to use air conditioning in buildings in Phoenix, only during the hottest months and when the temperature approaches the maximum they can tolerate. (paper, 2021) royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... vía @zewaldj.bsky.social‬ (blog) www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...

PhD positions in bird cognition and behavior at the University of Hong Kong are open for motivated candidates. Applicants should have a biology background. Apply to Dr. Simon Sin at [email protected]. More info: www.simonywsin.com. #phd

We are looking for a Research Assistant to contribute to our ongoing analysis of dolphin acoustic data from West Wales - collaboration between @wtsww.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social 🐬 Deadline is 29th June - please share widely! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

Cockatoos have learned to operate drinking fountains in Australia. The behavior—never before seen in birds—may be a developing cultural tradition among one population: scim.ag/4kIi12G

Did you know that riflebirds are the only known bird with “double jointed” wrists? It’s a nice example of how sexual selection can mess with the bodies of males (and females) to accommodate unusual displays Read more about these spectacular displays here: doi.org/10.1093/biol...

Our paper on brain size evolution in birds of paradise was recently accepted! In brief: •BoPs have big brains, comparable to those of medium-sized corvids •Neither absolute nor relative brain size appears to have co-evolved with display complexity doi.org/10.1093/orni...

🎊Fully funded PhD position on cooperative sustainability🌳 Are you curious about 🧒 developmental, 🌍 cross-cultural 🦧 species comparative research on cooperative sustainability? All info here or dm me with questions! career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job... Please share! 🙏

NEW EPISODE 📣 To study animals in the wild you have to find the animals & build a research "villa" before you even start the science @mohara.bsky.social & @bmioduszewska.bsky.social took on this challenge to study wild Goffin's cockatoos on a small Indonesian island Photos: Goffin lab Tanimbar

Black kites gather at Australian bushfires to hunt flying insects fleeing the blaze #birds

1/2 Sidney's cockatoos have learned to use drinking fountains It's a tricky mechanism that requires turning and holding a handle. They've figured out how to do it using their own weight, and now it's cultural : ) (paper) royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... by @lucymaplin.bsky.social‬

Why did some birds evolve to be so clever? Mark O'Hara & Berenika Mioduszewska took on the challenge of studying wild Goffin's cockatoos on a small Indonesian island. Their exciting findings help answer that question. Listen: linktr.ee/wild_behavior_pod Photo: Goffin Lab Tanimbar

Two paper just out from the #clevercockieproject! @julia-penndorf.bsky.social reveals how cockies play politics when deciding who to aggress: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... & @barbaraklump.bsky.social describes a new 'drinking innovation': royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

1/2 Non-human gamers Review of studies that have used games in the study of the animal mind. It has been documented how they become emotionally involved (when winning and losing) and play for the sheer pleasure of playing (dolphins, apes, and parrots) (paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1/2 The game of Balinese macaques In Bali, macaques play a game where they cover their eyes with objects to challenge themselves to overcome difficult tasks (pirouettes or walking stairs), and attract the attention of others to play (paper) link.springer.com/article/10.1... v @zewaldj.bsky.social‬

Another Easter at the aviary 🐣 🐣 🐣 … both the downside and upside to being on the property for all the holidays!

📣📣📣 Applications for the 2025 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) are now open!! Are you interested in intelligence, mind, and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars from any discipline—and storytellers in any medium—are encouraged to apply! More info: disi.org

Look what I discovered at the lab - it’s @auersperga.bsky.social’s new book, hot off the press! If you can read German, get your copy 😍

ORF Topos Story (for German readers) about cockatoos and ravens topos.orf.at/voegel-intel... featuring my new book "der Erfindergeist der Tiere" www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf... and Thomas Bugnyar's 2023 Book "Raben" www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/raben/

Review of applications starts March 1st! Apply here: disi.org/apply/

Our new bird research was published today! Here's the accompanying blog (a bit more room to dig into speciesism, anthropocentrism, entrenched methods in animal cognition etc. etc..). go.nature.com/3WAaYzq

Do you want to join our Goffin group and work with amazing cockatoos and great people? 🦜 Apply for this new PhD position in our team on tool use!!

Check out this cool comic in the Guardian by First Dog on the Moon about our new research! 🤩🦜 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is the video abstract to our new study with @zewaldj.bsky.social on food flavouring behaviour in Goffin's cockatoos www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wko...

I am reminded of this classic Far Side:

Incredibly cool study by my labmate and good friend @zewaldj.bsky.social 🦜 Flavouring behaviour is incredibly rare in animals, and there is almost no data on it! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Do you like to dip your fries in ketchup before eating it? Our cockatoos do too! In a new study in Current Biology, we showed our cockatoos innovated a new way to flavour their food: they dunk noodles in blueberry soy yoghurt. Read about it and watch our video abstract: www.cell.com/current-biol...

If you hate statistics like I do, then you'll love my free lectures. Putting science before statistics, 20 lectures from basics of inference & causal modeling to multilevel models & dynamic state space models. It's all free, made with love and sympathy. 🧪 #stats www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Advent Sci-Fact 18: Herring Gulls copy human food habits! Gulls were more likely to approach and eat food if they saw a human eating it, and would express a colour preference, mimicking the human. They’re social learners, also mimicking other gulls! Paper: tinyurl.com/2bjltxo4 #SciComm 🧪🌍 #gulls

For Advent 2024, I'm sharing my favourite science facts. Today's fact is based on the findings from the paper: "Dunking Rusk: innovative food soaking behaviour in Goffin's Cockatoos (Cacatua goffiana)" By: @zewaldj.bsky.social and @auersperga.bsky.social. Biology Letters. 2023.

My fantastic PhD supervisor Prof. Sarah Beck in the UK has a new interdisciplinary PhD opportunity (w/ Prof Kraftl) on "Pro-environmental behaviour change and the role of zoos" I cannot hype Sarah enough. She is the absolute best. Please repost! www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/cen...

Polly Dips Her Crackers In Water, Like People Dipping Theirs In Coffee | University of Vienna & University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, published by Royal Society Publishing Biology Letters by @GrrlScientist #parrots🦜 #ornithology #innovation #food #SciComm🧪 www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...