Benjamin Freeman

Birds of World's new Phylogeny Explorer It’s been an exciting week. Five years in the making, we’re very excited to release this new, updated, dynamic phylogeny of the world’s birds. By harnessing Open Tree of Life ’s existing...

Taxonomy and phylogeny are two sides of the same coin, but that doesn't mean they are always in agreement. I wrote a blog post on why the new Phylogeny Explorer in @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social is such a big deal in that regard, and what's in store next for us.

eliotmiller.weebly.com/blog/birds-o...

great quote!!

oh YEAH! Ornithology + the Yucatan in December??? Count me in for #IOC2026! If I haven't met you IRL, let's meet there!

Congrats to incoming School of Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Armita Manafzadeh for her Carl Gans Young Investigator Award from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Joining Georgia Tech in Aug. 2026, her lab will explore how joints work and how they evolved.

bit.ly/3LG1jVV

When 136 Bird Species Show Up at a Feeder, Which One Wins? In the study, 136 bird species were each given ability scores (given below each name) based on FeederWatch data about their dominance relative to other species. The higher a bird’s score, the more swa...

the Bird Feeder Power Rankings exists!

my friend @eliotmiller.bsky.social used real data to make these power rankings for N American feeder birds. Woodpeckers pretty high up there

www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-13...

The Evidence of Our Eyes and Ears Is Under Attack Extensive video footage is prevailing in debunking false accounts of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. Next time, it may not be enough.

I wrote about Minneapolis and why that Orwell quote everyone's been sharing makes me nervous about what comes next

Just a few days to go until our next deadline. Apply at the link below. #ornithology

OpenAccess science sounds great! But what if authors have to pay (Gold OA)? Well, clear biases appear: less participation from low and middle-income countries.

Find all about it in our new study led by Pablo Huais and Javi Nori 👇@oikosjournal.bsky.social

shorturl.at/bheb6

@peeer.bsky.social

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Incredible self own for the US. The damage being done to the US scientific enterprise is generational. We will look back on this as a tipping point where the US chose all on its own to stop leading the world in science.

www.science.org/content/arti...

so. many. long-tailed ducks!

3rd Asian Ornithological Conference, 14-17 Nov 2026, Singapore

Hi folks, the Asian Ornithological Conference will be happening from 14-17 Nov 2026 in Singapore. Please consider adding this to your conference schedule if you have bird research projects focused on the Asian region. Early registration opens 1 Feb, more info at aoc2026.sg

Oh shit BoW might really be goated for this. My guy @eliotmiller.bsky.social changed the damn game. This thing is fcking incredible. Hats off to the whole damn team. 👏

For those not in the know- BoW is worth the price of admission, now more than ever.

bro you phylolist?

If you thought regular bird listing was for nerds, wait til you get a load of phylolisting. @snacktavish.bsky.social

gnateaters represent the "eggs on legs" phenotype splendidly

ML616675248 - American Woodcock - Macaulay Library Macaulay Library ML616675248; © Karim Bouzidi; Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

Remarkable photo illustrating (American) Woodcock visual field

macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616675...

Cover reveal: the 3rd edition ‘Scientist’s Guide to Writing’ is getting closer! This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned it, but my book of advice for scientific writers, The Scientist’s Guide to Writing, is getting a 3rd edition! Publication is set for August 4th, 2026 – a me…

Time to (drum roll) reveal the cover for the 3rd edition of 'The Scientist's Guide to Writing'! It's getting real, it's getting close - you can even preorder already!

Steph Curry on watching the protests from his hotel window: "In negative 10-degree weather. It was beautiful to see that turnout. That speaks to how important people felt to have their voice heard. In those elements and whatever streets outside our hotel, they were out, and it was amazing to watch."

Wim van Leeuwen and I are looking for a postdoc. Come work with us!

_Lepidothrix velutina_ photograph courtesy of David Monroy Rengifo (ML298008331).

Super black plumage was identified in birds as part of awesome work by Drs. Dakota McCoy (@reallymccoy.bsky.social), Rick Prum, and others.

Dr. Roberta Canton dug into one clade containing a taxon having super black plumage, _Lepidothrix_ manakins, to show that super black is relatively common...

save your blankets for the endotherms

great cartoon, the first ever graphical abstract I've seen that kicks ass

A comic graphical abstract by illustrator Rush Dhillon showing two wood warblers and their spider prey. The graphs illustrate the read abundance of these spiders in the warbler's fecal samples.

I could give you a great summary of our new warbler diet paper… but if a picture says a thousand words, this awesome graphical abstract by @rushstudio.bsky.social tells the whole story. 🦉🧪
academic.oup.com/auk/article/...

@jameststroud.bsky.social

One of the coolest parts of tracking birds is getting to see those individuals in the wild again. Yesterday, near São Luis, Brazil, we saw a Whimbrel tagged in TX by Manomet and U. of OK in 2022! Since then it's been to the MacKenzie Delta & Southampton Island + Cape Cod, MA! Photos: Alan Kneidel

Valerahoy_ on Instagram: "Plan para Aumentar la Producción de Oro en Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez apuntó que se está ejecutando un plan orientado a incrementar la producción de oro y de los minerales e... 258 likes, 123 comments - valerahoy_ on January 19, 2026: "Plan para Aumentar la Producción de Oro en Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez apuntó que se está ejecutando un plan orientado a incrementar la produ...

Leader of Venezuela's puppet regime announces plan to increase mining of gold and rare earths, all of which are found in ecologically fragile regions of high biodiversity and endemism south of the Orinoco. www.instagram.com/reel/DTtdYw-...

once when i was little, a man at the supermarket was buying like a hundred packs of batteries & when i asked him why he said,

“once you start flushing these down the toilet for fun, you just can’t stop”

and i think this one interaction shaped me more than everything both my parents ever said to me

Anyone else have an encounter with a total stranger that they will never stop thinking about? I often think about the time I was in a bookstore waiting for a bathroom to open up, and a guy in one of the bathrooms was taking an incredibly loud crap while repeatedly yelling “SIRI, WHAT CITY IS THIS”

Starvation Wages: Venezuelan Faculty Earn Less Than $2 a Month as Educational Crisis Deepens Data released this January 15 to mark Teacher’s Day in Venezuela reveals a staggering reality: a high-ranking "Titular" professor with exclusive dedication earns a mere $1.58 USD per month. According ...

Venezuelan researchers need our support, not further financial punishment. #ornithology derechosuniversitarios.org/2026/01/16/s...

If you’re interested in extinction risk, please check out our new paper in @science.org led by my former PhD student Cooper: www.science.org/doi/full/10....