Beginner's luck is a thing, and with a balmy autumn night I was quite excited for my 9th ever moth-trapping night. But Clifden Nonpareil was not on the bingo card! Also, Least Carpet, Pink-barred Sallow and Rosy Rustic. #TeamMoth #leptember #Moths @willjsmith.bsky.social

A very kind interpretation of a baby pigeon! Here are some wild Rock Dove chicks, who may not be winning beauty contests... 🫠 (nests visited for ongoing @uniofnottingham.bsky.social research in the Outer Hebrides, and for @btobirds.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #NestRecordScheme)

A little write up @leverhulme.ac.uk summarising my research plans @uniofnottingham.bsky.social for the next few years: media.leverhulme.ac.uk/feature/wsmith. 🧬🐦🤓

Comparing the feral city pigeon with its wild form, Early Career Fellow @willjsmith.bsky.social endeavors to reveal whether feral species are experiencing reverse-domestication or proceeding down a new evolutionary trajectory. media.leverhulme.ac.uk/feature/wsmith @uniofnottingham.bsky.social

Reed Warbler range expansion paper just out, led by the amazing Nora Bergman 🧬🪶 with @informedbirds.bsky.social @katjaronka.bsky.social @fishcongen.bsky.social @rytikerttunen.bsky.social @frodefossoy.bsky.social and others doi.org/10.1111/mec.70077

Shovelers are a relatively familiar sight in many parts of the UK, but they rarely visit #StKilda. This female found by @n-t-s.bsky.social Ranger Sue yesterday is only the 5th island record and first since 2011. Great find, Sue! @hebridesbirds.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

Delighted for wren researcher Michał @jezierskimt.bsky.social yesterday finding St Kilda's 9th Rustic Bunting, and first in 25 years! Amazing to see this eastern vagrant hopping about in the Village sunshine. @hebridesbirds.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social

We've just had a brief visit to Uist to check in on the Rock Dove study population. A few (cute?) squabs ringed, and a nice selection of adults re-encountered through colour ring sightings. They seem to be having a good breeding season this spring 🐦🧬 @jezierskimt.bsky.social

This March, we've ringed the 1000th Rock Dove since @jezierskimt.bsky.social and I began monitoring them in Uist in July 2019. We also re-captured a (now a bit elderly, but thriving) dove first ringed during that trip. Lots of great data collected on overwinter survival and individual condition. 🕊️🪶

Sometimes a pigeon isn't actually a pigeon:

Studies of domestic pigeons have taught us lots about cognition, navigation, and genetics. If you’d like to learn why their wild cousins are also worthy of scientific attention, I’ve written a Rock Dove @currentbiology.bsky.social ‘quick guide’: doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.065

It's #DarwinDay! What better way to celebrate than announcing our latest 📣Call for Papers📣 focused on Island Evolution! Read this thread to find out more (1/4) 👇🧪🌍 Deadline: 5th December 2025 academic.oup.com/evolinnean/p... @linneansociety.bsky.social #Evolution #CallForPapers #Islands

Registration is OPEN for #BESMacro2025, the best conference in town. This year we're in York: 10-11 July main conference, 9 July pre-conference scicomm workshop. If you do macroecology or macroevolution, please join us! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...

Register for our next Student Research Grant Seminar on 2/3/25 at Noon ET, with Michał Jezierski, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University of Birmingham: "Investigating the island syndrome in the St. Kilda Wren" Details & Registration: americanornithology.org/professional... #AOS_SRGS

The new @ibisjournal.bsky.social British List update formalises the fact that UK Golden Pheasants are extinct as a self-sustaining wild entity (doi.org/10.1111/ibi....). This follows our recent study, and lots of time spent in the woods with these beautiful birds: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The first @themanybirds.bsky.social study on neophobia has finally been released as a preprint! Together with 120+ collaborators, we studied avoidance behavior in 136 bird species, revealing both phylogenetic and ecological signatures. Very proud to be involved! 🧪🪶 doi.org/10.31219/osf...

Use of anthropogenic landscapes in a wild Columba livia (Rock Dove) population | doi.org/10.1093/orni... | Ornithology | #ornithology 🪶

Much of our knowledge about bird movements comes from studies of domestic pigeons. With funding from @britishbirds.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social, we carried out a small pilot study, GPS tracking their wild Rock Dove cousins. #ornithology. doi.org/10.1093/orni...

Hi, I’m Will and I'm a biologist mainly working with Rock Doves (the wild form of the domestic/feral pigeon) in the Outer Hebrides 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. I’m currently a post-doc in Helsinki, where I study Reed Warbler genomics 🧬 and Cuckoo brood parasitism. I am also very interested in the UK’s non-native birds.

Oh well, if we are all doing it 🤷