Michal Šulc

Bioacoustics as a tool for the detection and monitoring of a scarce woodland bird – the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Excellent @britishbirds.bsky.social paper from @lesserspotnet.bsky.social et al. using passive acoustic monitoring.

LS detected at >60% of sites in southern England, most of which had no recent records. Drums/calls very few over thousands of hours. Birders' chances of an encounter clearly very low!

Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals Host body temperature can define a virus’s replicative profile—influenza A viruses (IAVs) adapted to 40° to 42°C in birds are less temperature sensitive in vitro compared with human isolates adapted t...

Cool paper suggesting that naturally higher body T˚ in birds leads to flu viruses originating in birds being pre-adapted to resist mammalian fever as a defence mechanism...

Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Duration of nest-building in passerine birds: the roles of latitude, nest size, and nest type Why do birds build nests at different speeds? Nest building is crucial for reproductive success, but the drivers of its varying duration across species wer

academic.oup.com/beheco/advan...

10 attractions in Brno - the Czech Republic's second largest city In the south-east of the Czech Republic lies the country's second largest city, Brno. Here you will find a youthful and exuberant university town, full of innovative ideas that at the same time preser...

Brno will bring you more than great science! Get ready for rich history, beautiful architecture, vibrant streets and amazing gastronomy! Explore a first glimpse of Brno here, for example: www.rucksack.se/en/sevardhet...

We are happy to announce that the next EOU Conference will be in Brno, Czech Republic in 2027! Check our website eounion.org and follow us on social media for regular updates! #ornithology #EOU2027

When nocturnally migrating birds encounter low-level light pollution patches: a case study from the Croatian coast | www.sciencedirect.co... | Biological Conservation | #ornithology 🪶

The structure of the annual migratory flight activity in a songbird | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Migratory songbirds have an internal circannual genetic programme that controls the timing and extent of migratory flight activity, as demonstrated by experiments with birds held in cages. We used mul...

A new tracking study reveals migration is more rigid than the long held view that it is a flexible process. In Red-backed Shrikes at least.

#OpenAccess paper in @royalsocietypublishing.org Proc B

#ornithology 🪶 #OA

Wild jackdaws recognise the contact calls of their mate - Animal Cognition Animal Cognition - In stable social environments, the ability to recognise other group members and integrate individual cues with previous experience is likely to be beneficial in mediating social...

New paper, led by our former PhD student Victoria Lee. Wild jackdaws recognise the contact calls of their mate: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@uniexecec.bsky.social @guillmcivor.bsky.social

Brings back happy memories of ISBE 2024 where the conversation about this paper began.. great to see it out in @natecoevo.nature.com. Thanks to co-authors and to the organisers of that brilliant conference 🙏🏽. @bbmwong.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social, Suzanne Alonzo🫶, Sasha Dall, “Dr Cunningham”

Many thanks to all authors, namely to @scienceanna.bsky.social, @lisandrinamari.bsky.social, @jtroscianko.bsky.social, V. Jelínek and T. Albrecht, to all participants that played the egg game, to our research institute @ivb-cas.bsky.social of @czechacademy.bsky.social. And of course, to all BIRDS!

🧵5/5
AI model outperformed participants, including experienced ornithologists! We suggest using our model ideally with information about egg-laying sequence to identify eggs laid by CBP. The complete pipeline is freely available in the suppl. material.

📸 Barn swallow © Vladimír Pokorný

🧵4/5
We used photographs of non-parasitized barn swallow clutches and shuffled eggs to create thousands of parasitized clutches. Then we tested the accuracy of human participants at identification of parasitic eggs and compared it with results of our AI model.

📸 Which one is the parasitic egg?

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CBP is still quite a mystery, partially because it is hard to reveal it. Eggs laid by parasitic and host females look often very similar and therefore genetic markers has been recommended to reveal this reproductive strategy.

📸 Barn swallow eggs with numbers showing the egg-laying sequence

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Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP), where females lay eggs in nests of other females of the same species, is in birds relatively common. It has been observed especially in waterfowl (pochards, goldeneyes, coots) but also in songbirds (swallows, sparrows, starlings).

📸 Common goldeneye female

🧵1/5 Excited about our new paper in PRSB! @royalsocietypublishing.org

Can AI make research on avian brood parasitism easier? YES!
We show that AI model can identify conspecific parasitic eggs better than an average ornithologist.
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

📸 Barn swallow – our study species.

Genomic architecture of egg mimicry and its consequences for speciation in parasitic cuckoos Host-parasite arms races facilitate rapid evolution and can fuel speciation. Cuculus cuckoos are deceptive egg mimics that exhibit a broad diversity of counterfeit egg phenotypes, representing host-ad...

Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.

But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!

doi.org/10.1126/scie...

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Where exactly did you see it? They should be on the way to wintering grounds in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We should not only avoid predatory journals but it's:
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly eco-evo journals ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

database
dafnee.isem-evolution.fr

Proud that our institute @ivb-cas.bsky.social publishes 💎open-access J. of Vertebrate Biology

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Predicted deleterious mutations reveal the genetic architecture of male reproductive success in a lekking bird - Nature Ecology & Evolution Analysis of whole genomes and life-history data of male black grouse shows that deleterious mutations, especially those in promotors, reduce lifetime reproductive success.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Local Organizing Commitee welcomes behavioral ecologists from across the world and of all career stages to enjoy a five-day meeting rich in top-notch science and ample networking opportunities in Turin (Italy), 20-24 July 2026.

Parasitized Red-breasted Merganser nest. Photo: Emilie Knighton

NEW PAPER: Red-breasted mergansers do not move parasitic eggs to cooler nest edges, suggesting limited use of discriminatory incubation against conspecific brood parasitism, though some eggs may be selectively removed.

➡️ vist.ly/3n59e4x

#ornithology #birds #broodparasitism #eggrejection 🪶

:-) it didn’t nap - they are quite heavy birds so when put in the hand, they stay on their back/wings for some time. It may also be a strategy called tonic immobility (similar to tanatosis) that helps them avoid predation attack.

Our fieldwork on brood parasitism of common cuckoos started well, with so far 11 caught individuals! When catching these charismatic birds, there are usually also interesting bycatches :) @ivb-cas.bsky.social @rytikerttunen.bsky.social @lisandrinamari.bsky.social

A clutch of 11 small pale speckled Blue Tit eggs in a nest lined with moss and feathers. Image by Hugh Insley/BTO. Number 1 in a green circle is bottom left of the image.

A clutch of five blue Dunnock eggs in a cup-shaped nest deep in vegetation. Image by Mike Toms/BTO. Number 2 in a green circle is bottom left of the image.

A clutch of five bright blue Starling eggs surrounded by feathers in a nest box. Image by Hugh Insley/BTO. Number 3 in a green circle is bottom left of the image.

It’s all about eggs at BTO right now, but not the chocolate kind! 🐣 We’re busy during the nest monitoring season! 🐦 You can get involved too by watching birds in your garden and submitting records to our Nesting Neighbours scheme. 👉 www.bto.org/nest-mon...

So whose eggs are these? ⬇️ #Birds

Map of the world showing the locations of six BTO tagged Cuckoos, with five in Spain and one (Sayaan) in Italy. Six headshots of Cuckoos with their names accompany the map. The Cuckoos featured are: Cleeve, Joe, Hafren, Sayaan, Wilfrid and Cuach Cores. Accompanying wording reads: Update 16th April. Six Cuckoos in Europe! BTO Cuckoo Tracking. BTO logo sits top right of the image.

The race is on! 📢 Six BTO Cuckoos have touched down in Europe! 🌍 So where are our frontrunners and who will be the first to reach the UK? 👇 www.bto.org/cuckoos #Ornithology #Birds

Egg mimicry! Cuckoos have them!

Birds are just very inventive creatures! 😀😉

We also tracked down a birder, Mr Otis from Reading, who was sitting on the dock of the bay in Southampton and caught a glimpse of a Cuckoo with a tag flying overhead! It must have been Tom cruising along to his Norfolk breeding grounds. What a journey! 🛥️🌍😀

peerj.com/articles/187...