Interesting new paper, reviewing past work on Rock Dove navigation: doi.org/10.4081/rio..... We published a small GPS-tagging project (using Scottish doves) earlier this year, as a bit of a pilot study (doi.org/10.1093/orni...). There is loads more to learn about these birds! 🕊️🔭

Third and final Uist trip finished! That's 481 individual Rock Doves ringed/recaptured/resighted during 2025, providing great data to help us understand this population. It's been nice to also get the opportunity to update the community on our project progress. @jezierskimt.bsky.social

New work out from our @islandbirdproject.bsky.social team lead by @raquelponti.bsky.social We will be presenting this at the upcoming conference #BOUasm25 "A day at the museum: collections-based ornithological research in a changing world" on BlueSky, 18th of Nov.

New research from #ProcB: A wide range of abiotic and biotic variables leaves most variation in bird nest architecture unexplained buff.ly/eRawojZ | #AnimalBehaviour #Ecology #Evolution

New paper today in Proc B @royalsociety.org. We explored nest architecture in 3,685 species of birds, modelling the multivariate nature of nests, i.e. how shape, location or attachment co-occur. Then we explored how the environment affected nest architecture evolution. Spoilers in the title! 🪺🐦🌍

Interested in island life and arthropods? There's a new PhD project advertised at the University of Birmingham to study the evolution of 'island syndromes' in a chosen group of island arthropods, with both museum and fieldwork-based research are expected. More details at: centa.ac.uk/studentship/...

Do you like islands? And/or arthropods? Please get in touch with me (m.t.jezierski[at]bham.ac.uk) or another member of the supervisory team! We will help you study island evolution in arthropods with a (funded) PhD @unibirmingham.bsky.social. 🪲🏝️🦋 centa.ac.uk/studentship/... *Please share this!*

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 🤷